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Principles of Teaching 



BY 

NATHAN A. HARVEY 

PROFESSOR OF PEDAGOGY, STATE NORMAL COLLEGE, 
YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN 



CHICAGO 
ROW, PETERSON & CO. 



4 



Copyright, 1910 

BY 

ROW, PETERSON & CO 



©CU259133 



PREFACE 

Seme men need to apologize for living, and the 
preface of a book is frequently in the nature of an 
apology for its existence. Whether a book needs an 
apology or not, it is sometimes advantageous to a reader 
to know the author's point of view, and what he expects 
the book to accomplish. 

Of the five hundred thousand teachers in the United 
States, about one hundred thousand are teaching their 
first term of school this year. Of this one hundred thou- 
sand, scarcely more than ten thousand have had any 
professional training, or have given to the subject of 
teaching any serious preliminary thought that could be 
called professional study. The professional aspect of the 
work must be presented to them after the work of teach- 
ing has been entered upon. In the hope that it may 
contribute somewhat to the realization that there is a 
professional aspect of teaching, and a body of educational 
doctrine worth while for a teacher to know, this volume 
is sent forth. 

The book has grown out of the attempt to give to 
young persons preparing to teach the largest amount of 
professional knowledge in the shortest possible time. This 
necessarily involves the selection of somewhat isolated 
topics, rather than a closely integrated body of educa- 
tional doctrine. A classification of the chapters in the 

3 



4 PREFACE 

book will show that some of them may be called chapters 
in the Philosophy of Education ; others belong to the 
subject of Child Study, while still others are more 
properly pedagogical, or devoted to the Principles of 
Teaching. 

Much of the best in educational doctrine is old, going 
back to the time of Locke and Comenius. Some of it is 
new, the result of recent discussions and investigations. 
All of it, old and new, needs to be worked over, from 
time to time, and reorganized in the light of additional 
knowledge, enlarged ideals of life, and new conceptions 
of child nature. A book in which a conscientious attempt 
to accomplish such a reorganization of material is made, 
needs no apology for existence. 

It will be found that much emphasis is laid upon the 
reasons that justify the statements of educational prin- 
ciples, and the practices of teaching. We must search 
in biology, psychology and sociology for such an under- 
standing. Teaching cannot be educational without being 
sociological. It cannot be sociological without being 
psychological. It cannot be psychological without at 
the same time being biological. This conception, from 
which alone can arise a science of education, will account 
for some of the things in the book that would otherwise 
lack interpretation. 

The writer has not hesitated to rely upon his own 
investigations and an experience of many years in all 
grades of school, from that of the country district to 
the university and the normal school, even when his con- 
clusions have not harmonized completely with the theories 
of other writers upon these subjects. The attempt has 
been made to present the conclusions in an understand- 
able way without relying upon mystifying and mean- 



PREFACE 5 

ingless phrases, or inventing new terms for old and 
well understood ideas. Grateful acknowledgement for 
many valuable suggestions is made to Supt. I. C. Mc- 
Neill, of Memphis, Professors O. O. Norris, S. B. Laird, 
and H. C. Lott, of Ypsilanti. 

To the Public School Teachers of the United States, 
whose work must be the principal reliance of this Nation 
for the perpetuity of its institutions, this volume is ad- 
dressed. 
May 1, 1909. Ypsilanti, Michigan. 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER. 
I. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV 



PAGE. 

What a Teacher Ought to Know ... 1 

The Study of Psychology 28 

What Education Is 4U 

What Education Does For the Child . . 48 

The Aim of Education °° 

The Argument For the Common School . . 83 

Periods of Child Development . . . 100 

The Theory of Play . . • • • • 12 3 

Interest 

Imitation . • 161 

Apperception ^ 

The Problem of Teaching Children How to 

Study ........ 19Z 

What Teaching Is ..218 

The Recitation • • 235 

Different Forms of Recitation . . . 251 

School Discipline 271 

Motives In 'School ...... 290 

School Incentives 305 

Formation of the General Abstract Notion . 321 

The Growth of Children . . . • 344 

Defective Vision 360 

Defective Hearing ...'._.. 27A 
Fatigue, Lefthandedness, Nervousness, Pos- 
ture and Disease 382 

The Course of Study 401 

7 



PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

CHAPTER I. 
What a Teacher Ought to Know. 

Professional Knowledge. — It is not intended, in this 
introductory chapter, to point out all the things that a 
teacher ought to know, nor to include in the statement 
all the things that well-informed individuals who may 
become teachers are likely to learn. Rather it is intended 
to assert that there are some things which a teacher, 
from the mere fact of being a teacher, ought to know, 
but which it is not necessary that well-informed persons 
who are not teachers, should know. Teaching is profes- 
sional work, and there is a body of knowledge which per- 
tains especially to the profession. It is this professional 
knowledge which distinguishes teaching from other pro- 
fessions, and the professional from the non-profes- 
sional teacher. It is a body of knowledge without 
which no teacher can hope to rise to the point of greatest 
effectiveness in his profession, or make his work ac- 
complish as much for the children placed in his care as 
it might do. 

Knozvledge of the Subject. — First, the teacher ought 

9 



10 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

to know the subject which he is called upon to teach. 
We may agree heartily with the proposition here ad- 
vanced, and assert as strongly as anybody can assert it, 
that the teacher ought to know a good deal more about 
the subject than he is called upon to teach. But the 
statement as it is usually made contains some implica- 
tions, with which we may not agree. It contains the 
implication, usually, that the knowledge of the subject 
is the only thing that is necessary for the teacher to 
learn in order to be a good teacher, and that the more 
he knows of the subject the better teacher he will be. 
Assent cannot be given to these propositions without 
reservation. It is not true that the better scholar is 
always the better teacher, and it is not true that ad- 
ditional knowledge of the subject, beyond a certain point, 
will result in improvement in teaching. Neither is it 
altogether true that a person cannot teach what he does 
not know. The very essence o'f the inductive spirit is 
that of discovery, and a teacher may guide, in a degree, 
the activities of the children without knowing exactly 
what the result of those activities may be. The result, 
in such a case, however, is not likely to be so satisfac- 
tory as if he knows beforehand what it will be. 
since he thereby may avoid much waste of energy. 

The Bom Teacher. — There is another implication in 
the statement that the teacher must know the subject 
which he is to teach, and sometimes, instead of being 
implied, it is openly expressed. That implication is that 
if a person is a born teacher and knows the subject he 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 11 

can teach it; and if he is not a born teacher he cannot 
teach. The implication is that ability to teach is a natural 
gift and not a matter of training. The argument runs 
about as follows : A person who is a born teacher 
will be able to teach the things that he knows ; therefore 
there is no need for any instruction in the art of teaching. 
A person who is not a born teacher can never be taught 
to teach, so all attempts to give instruction in the art 
of teaching are useless. 

The Bom Musician. — Let us draw a parallel. Nearly 
every one is acquainted with some person who may be 
called a born musician. He can learn to sing or whistle 
a tune with the greatest facility, and will play almost 
any instrument with which he becomes acquainted. We 
may call him a born musician ; and, according to the ar- 
gument in case of the born teacher, there is no occa- 
sion for his attending a conservatory of music, nor 
taking lessons in musical art. But a person who is pos- 
sessed of such natural aptitude is the one who is most 
likely to avail himself of all possible opportunities for 
musical instruction in his own and foreign countries. It 
is evident that this amount of instruction in music would 
be considered neither profitable nor appropriate for one 
who has not great natural talent in music. Only the born 
musician is ever considered worthy of such an amount 
of musical training. So it is with the born teacher. 
Only the born teacher is worth training. The person 
who has no natural ability for teaching is one whom it 
is impossible ever to train to teach. Hence in a very 



12 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

true sense we may say that only the born teacher can 
ever be trained to teach. 

To say, however, that a person is a born teacher im- 
plies that very few persons have the natural ability to 
teach. The truth is that teaching ability exists in various 
degrees in a great many persons. Nearly everybody 
has more or less of teaching talent, and nearly every- 
body can learn to teach. 

Knowledge of the Subject Not Sufficient Prepara- 
tion. — There is still another very mischievous form of 
the argument against the special preparation of teachers. 
Coupled with the assertion that a teacher is born, not 
made, goes the suggestion that greater knowledge of 
the subject is the only preparation for teaching that 
can be made. If a person knows the subject he can very 
quickly learn the methods of teaching. An ounce of 
practice is worth a ton of theory. A person who knows 
a subject has learned the process by which he has ac- 
quired it, and he knows the methods that his teachers 
have employed. There can be no valid reason then, for 
special preparation for teaching. Thus runs the argu- 
ment. 

Parallel of the Physician and the Lawyer. — Let us 
apply the same process of reasoning to another profes- 
sion. Suppose that a person wishes to become a physi- 
cian. Assume that he is man in good health 
He knows what good health is and how to maintain it, 
as his present healthy condition shows. Let us advise 
him to attend some school where he will have his mind 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 13 

developed. Then, when he wishes to begin the practice 
of medicine, he will soon learn how to distinguish dis- 
eases and the proper remedies to apply. His mind has 
been so well trained that he will quickly achieve eminence 
in his profession, and schools for training in medicine 
will be unnecessary and useless. 

So too, if a young man wishes to practice law, let 
us advise him to study Latin and Greek and other sub- 
jects that will give him mental discipline, so that as soon 
as he wishes to undertake the practice of law, his well- 
trained mind will enable him to surpass others who 
have had only the limited training that is given in law 
schools. He can learn the methods of legal practice in 
a short time by observation in the court room. 

We see the absurdity of such argument as soon as 
it is stated in terms of another profession than that of 
teaching. In fact, teaching is the only profession in 
which knowledge of the professional aspect of the sub- 
ject is ever considered useless and inadvisable. 

The Phases of Professional Training. — The profes- 
sional training of a teacher includes at least three dis- 
tinct lines of work; there must be first and fundament- 
ally a knowledge of the subject. This knowledge must 
be so full that it will permit the teacher in the recita- 
tion to be free to follow the operations of the children's 
minds rather than to be concerned with the facts of the 
lesson. Such freedom is an immediate condition for all 
good teaching. There is no disposition to underesti- 
mate the importance of knowledge of the subject, al- 



14 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

though of the three lines of work involved in the pro- 
fessional preparation of teachers, perhaps either of the 
others is of more importance. Especially is this true, 
if by knowledge of the subject we mean, as is generally 
the case, an academic, as distinguished from a profes- 
sional knowledge of it. 

Two Facts About Knowledge. — There are two con- 
siderations about the knowledge of the subject that ought 
to be noticed. The first is that our knowledge of the 
subject is the result of constantly learning, forgetting 
and relearning it. Knowledge is not something that 
can be accumulated and made a permanent possession. 
Our knowledge is constantly changing; it is in a state 
of flux and flow ; it is subject to constant modifications 
caused by our learning of other things, and modified 
by our tendency to forget. A teacher who is not con- 
stantly learning or relearning a subject is not very well 
prepared for teaching it. It is scarcely too much to say, 
that everything we know, which is available for our 
teaching, has been learned within the past five years. 
The teacher whose acquisition of knowledge terminates 
with his school days very quickly ceases to be of value 
as a teacher. 

Difference Between Academic and Professional Knowl- 
edge. — There has already been indicated a difference 
between an academic and a professional knowledge of 
the subject. A teacher needs to have a very different 
knowledge of the subject from that which the pupil ac- 
quires, or from that which is possessed by the ordinary 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 15 

well-informed person. This professional aspect of the 
subject is a part of the technique of the teaching pro- 
fession, and cannot be disregarded. Not only must 
the teacher's knowledge of the subject be more extensive 
than the pupil is likely to acquire, but it must differ in 
kind. Let us illustrate by an example from arithmetic : 
Illustration from Arithmetic. — Suppose that the 
teacher has a class in arithmetic, and it has been decided 
that the lesson for the day shall be the fraction three- 
fourths. The teacher's knowledge of the subject cer- 
tainly includes a knowledge of the fraction. Suppose 
the teacher proceeds upon the assumption that three- 
fourths indicates that a unit has been divided into four 
equal parts and three of the parts have been taken. He 
may proceed by cutting an apple into four equal parts 
and exhibiting three of the parts. Or, what is decidedly 
better, he may have each pupil in the class perform the 
operation of division and selection. But the first ques- 
tion that arises may be in connection with a piece of 
pie. A boy wants a whole piece; it is not, to him, a 
fraction. A piece is not a fraction in itself, although 
it is one of the equal parts. Here the teacher discovers 
that he needs to distinguish between the fractional unit 
and the unit of the fraction. This idea is scarcely new 
to him, nor perhaps to the children. But the next prob- 
lem says that John has twelve marbles and gave Henry 
three-fourths of them. It is difficult for the teacher 
to make his children see that twelve marbles is a unit 
that may be divided into fractional parts. Evidently the 



16 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

teacher needs to know something more about a fraction 
than he has yet learned in an academic way before he is 
ready to teach it with profit. 

A Fraction as a Ratio. — Again, the teacher may as- 
sume that a fraction is a ratio expressing the relation 
of one number to another. If he proceeds upon this as- 
sumption, he will need to get some blocks or other ob- 
jects that have easily discoverable ratios to each other, 
and cause the children to recognize and state the ratio 
between the two objects selected. The process is quite 
different from the other method of procedure and has 
caused much acrimonious discussion over method among 
teachers. There is nothing in this procedure about the 
fractional unit nor the unit of the fraction. The teacher 
is therefore called upon to decide which of these views of 
the nature of the fraction is the true one ; and then only 
is ready to proceed with the teaching of his class. 

Professional Knowledge of a Fraction. — But a proper 
professional knowledge of the nature of the fraction 
will show that all the devices for teaching fractions and 
the particular ideas expressed in them are only partial, 
and merely illustrative of the much more comprehensive 
understanding which the teacher must have before he 
is ready to teach three-fourths properly to a class. These 
devices and the applications of fractions underlying 
them are the only things that the pupil can see, and are 
almost the only things that a teacher who has not made 
special preparation for teaching is likely to know. 

Essential Difference Between a Fraction and an In- 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 17 

teger. — When we come to understand a fraction prop- 
erly we shall find that it is an extension of the number 
concept. Our ordinary integral numbers are decimal 
numbers having a constant base of ten, and expressed 
by using the device of place-value. Before we are able 
to teach fractions properly, we must know a good deal 
more about decimal numbers than it is profitable to teach 
to children. We must know what is meant by place- 
value, and how important it is in the making of arith- 
metical calculations. We should have tried to multiply 
and divide numbers expressed in the Roman notation. 
We should have seen the limitation imposed upon arith- 
metic by such notation, and should have recognized the 
tremendous improvement introduced by the Arabic no- 
tation. Then we must have realized what is meant by a 
base. In the decimal number we carry one for every 
ten. Ten units of one denomination make one of the 
next higher. We should have tried to reduce a decimal 
number in which the base is ten, to an equivalent ex- 
pression in a system in which the base is twelve or 
eight or some other number. Then we shall understand 
that a fraction is a number which has no constant base, 
but whose base is expressed by the denominator. When 
we reduce a fraction to an equivalent fraction having 
another denominator, we are changing a number from 
a system having one base to an equivalent number ex- 
pressed in a system with a different base. 

Importance of Professional Knowledge of a Fraction. 
— The common fraction does not employ place-value; 



18 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

hence it is that operations performed with fractions are 
attended with greater difficulties than teachers ordinarily 
suppose. Only when we have arrived at some such 
understanding of the nature of a fraction are we able 
to teach fractions as well as we should; and then only 
are we able to see that the dividing of an object into 
equal parts is an illustration of the fraction concept, 
and does not itself express the true nature of the frac- 
tion. This conception of the fraction is far beyond the 
comprehension of the children of the grades in which 
the subject of fractions is taught, and is not obtained 
by the study of algebra or higher mathematics. No 
amount of knowledge of algebra or analytics or calculus 
will make a person a good teacher of fourth grade arith- 
metic. No amount of knowledge of literature or rheto- 
ric or Anglo-Saxon will make a person a good teacher 
of reading for a primary grade. It must be a knowledge 
of the subject itself, far beyond the limits that the chil- 
dren are able to comprehend, which constitutes a knowl- 
edge of subject matter necessary for a teacher. 

Illustration from Grammar. — Let us illustrate the 
kind of knowledge that a teacher must possess by an 
example drawn from grammar. Let us suppose that 
we have a class beginning grammar, and that we are 
proposing to have our children learn and understand the 
different elements of a sentence. We have chosen for 
our illustrative sentence the favorite one in grammars, 
Lead is a metal. We have our pupils learn that lead is 
the subject, is is the copula and metal is the predicate. 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 19 

But some inquisitive child asks why lead is the subject. 
We reply that something is said about lead. Then he 
asks if something is not said about metal: and if we are 
honest we reply, "Certainly, but lead is that of which 
something is affirmed." Then he asks what do we mean 
by affirmed, when we are likely to suggest that it is 
about time for recess. 

In order that the teacher shall be able to teach 
children with confidence, and to inspire the proper kind 
of confidence in them, as well as to judge what is the 
best method of procedure in a given case, the teacher 
must know what really constitutes the distinction between 
the different elements of a sentence. He must know 
the psychological processes that give rise to grammatical 
distinctions. He must know that a sentence, or a propo- 
sition, is the expression of a judgment. He must know 
that in making a judgment two different ideas, or con- 
cepts, are held up in the mind and compared. 
He must know that the two concepts are not 
of equal rank in the process of judging, but 
that one of them is used as a standard of comparison, 
and the other is brought beside it to be compared: that 
the expression of the concept which is the standard is the 
predicate, and the expression ,of the concept which is 
compared with the standard is the subject; that the ex- 
pression of the judgment itself is the copula. The copula 
is the word which expresses the agreement of the two 
concepts with each other. Only this kind of knowledge 
will enable the teacher to teach grammar with assurance 



20 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

and with the highest kind of success. This is not the 
grammar of the grades nor of the high school. It is 
rather the psychology of grammar. 

Illustration from History.. — This matter is of so great 
importance that it is worth while to use another illustra- 
tion. Let us employ an illustration from history, for 
the purpose and content of history are so generally mis- 
understood. Suppose that the lesson for the day is the 
Landing of the Pilgrims, and the 'children, having studied 
their lesson in the text-book, come up to recite. They 
recite that the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock on the 
twenty-first of December; that there were one hundred 
one of them, and that they came over in a vessel called 
the Mayflower. If a child recites these facts promptly 
the teacher is likely to call it good recitation. 

Unimportant Details. — But let us examine the matter. 
Let us suppose that instead of landing on Plymouth 
Rock they had landed on the sandy beach beside it. Sup- 
pose that instead of being the twenty-first of December it 
had been the twenty-fifth or the nineteenth. Suppose 
that instead of being one hundred one persons there had 
been ninety-nine, or one hundred five ; and suppose that 
instead of being called the Mayflower the vessel had 
been called the Derelict, or some other name. 

How different is the teaching of this event from what 
it would be if the Pilgrims had landed in sunny June; 
and yet its real significance would not be in the least 
changed. 

When the pupils have recited the facts enumerated, 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 21 

and have done it well, the teacher feels like commending 
them, while there has been only a single item of essen- 
tial importance. All circumstances might have been 
different from what they were without modifying in the 
slightest degree the essential idea underlying the landing 
of the Pilgrims. What, then, is this essential idea which 
it is necessary for the teacher to know in order that his 
pupils may derive anything like the proper amount of 
benefit from the history lesson, and without which the 
learning of it is all vain and wasted effort? 

The Essential Idea. — The teacher must know that 
the voyage of the Pilgrims was the expression of an 
idea. Essentially it was an expression of a desire for 
religious freedom. The teacher must see in the voyage 
of the Pilgrims the flower and the fruit of a long train 
of circumstances; and must see in this flower and fruit 
the seed of another long train of circumstances springing 
out of it, and running through all expressions of: our 
national life down to the present time. The landing of 
the Pilgrims is, then, the connecting link between two 
great trains of circumstances, expressing the conflict of 
opposing ideas. One train of circumstances preceded the 
coming of the Pilgrims ; the other followed it, and finds 
its expression in our national and social life. Unless 
the teacher can look before and after this voyage, and 
see these trains of circumstances expressing opposing 
ideas, he will not be able to teach the landing of the 
Pilgrims in the most satisfactory manner. 

Difference Between a Teachers Knowledge and a 



22 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Pupil's. — This effective knowledge of the subject is 
something that the non-professional person does not have, 
nor does he need to have it. It is a kind of knowledge of 
the subject that the pupil does not get, and it is not 
necessary that he should. But it is the kind of knowledge 
that makes the work of the teacher effective, and which 
it is necessary that he should have if his work is to be 
the best that it may become. It is a knowledge of the 
thing that is to be taught, not necessarily a knowledge 
of other subjects foreign to that of instruction. It is not 
a knowledge of higher mathematics that makes an ef- 
fective teacher of arithmetic or of algebra. It is a 
knowledge of arithmetic and of algebra that makes the 
effective teacher of those subjects. 

Knowledge of the Purpose of Education. — Pedagogi- 
cal as well as academic knowledge of the subject, then, 
is necessary. But even more necessary for effective 
teaching is a knowledge of the purposes of education. 
The community, by the very process of establishing a 
school, recognizes the fact and registers its belief that 
the child who attends a school will become a different 
person than he would become did he not attend school. 
The community establishes a school as the specific in- 
stitution for bringing- about a desired change in 
the individual. The pupil who attends school may be 
modified in one direction or another according as the 
school is planned to affect his growth in one or the other 
direction. The teacher must know the direction in which 
it is desirable that the child's growth shall be modified. 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 23 

or he will not be able to work effectively in the chosen 
direction. 

The teacher must know the end and purpose of edu- 
cation. If the teacher adopts the knowledge aim of 
education, and believes that the acquisition of knowledge 
is the purpose for which the school has been established, 
he will teach in one way. If he believes that mental 
discipline is the end and purpose of education, he will 
teach in a different way. If he believes that the de- 
velopment of the moral nature of children is the one 
and only purpose of education, he will select different 
subjects of instruction, and will teach in a different 
manner than he would if he believed mental discipline 
or the acquisition of knowledge to be the end and pur- 
pose of education. If he adopts the aim of social efficiency 
as the purpose of education, then again his methods of 
teaching and his selection of subject matter will be es- 
sentially different from what it would be under the influ- 
ence of the other aims. It is important, then, that the 
teacher shall have clearly in mind all the time the end 
that is to be sought in school work, and that he shall 
know how to proceed to make the desired change in the 
minds and characters of the children. 

Purpose Determines the Method. — Both the subject 
matter and the method of instruction will be determined 
by the end and purpose of education that is established 
in the mind of the teacher. In order to produce the de- 
sired change upon the mind and character of the child 
certain mental experiences must be engendered in him. 



24 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

The child and the man is inevitably determined by what 
he thinks. If the teacher can cause the child to think 
in a certain way, to experience the proper .kind of men- 
tal processes, than he can effectively develop the child 
in the proper direction. It is of the utmost importance 
that the teacher shall know, not only the end and pur- 
pose of education, and the kind of person which he 
wishes the child to become, but he must also know the 
mental processes that will lead him in the direction of 
the end sought. If he does not know what the mental 
processes are, and is unable to distinguish these mental 
processes when the child does experience them, then 
his work will inevitably be blind, haphazard and ineffect- 
ive. A person who teaches without a knowledge of 
what mental processes a child experiences, can never 
teach so effectively as he would if he knew what those 
mental processes are. 

The Pedagogical Content. — This second element in 
the teacher's effective knowledge then, includes also, a 
knowledge of the pedagogical content of the subject. 
What is there in this subject that is capable of being 
used to induce the mental processes which it is necessary 
for the child to experience in order to attain the end 
of education which the community has established and 
which the teacher has recognized. Here is a new view- 
point for the study of the subject. The course of study 
and the selection of the subject matter is to be deter- 
mined, not by tradition, but by its pedagogical content. 
Every subject of instruction must be subjected to this 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 25 

scrutiny. We have proceeded not very far in this direc- 
tion, but there is room for much careful work by every 
teacher in trying to understand the subject as material 
for inducing mental processes. 

Knozvledge of the Child. — The third kind of knowl- 
edge that the teacher ought to have is a knowledge of 
child nature. Although placed last in order of men- 
tion, this is perhaps most important of all. The teacher's 
knowledge of the child is not that kind of knowledge 
of children that persons who are not teachers have. It is 
a kind of special, professional knowledge of children. 
It is different from that which is obtained by casual in- 
tercourse with them. The knowledge of children that 
a teacher must have is a knowledge of the individual 
children who are seated before him. It is not a knowl- 
edge of the average child, nor of children in the 
abstract, but of the concrete specimens which constitute 
his class. 

Phenomena of Child Development. — A teacher must 
know that certain instincts develop at certain times and 
that the sudden development of instincts accounts for 
many actions of children. The fear of furred animals 
and feathered creatures appears suddenly and rather 
earlier than the children are sent to school. The demand 
for society appears in children about the time that they 
become of school age, and then .it is that children need 
to play with other children. The teacher needs to know 
that the first social games of children are largely competi- 
tive plays, and that competition is an essential element in 



26 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

child life. Love plays do not appear, nor become of inter- 
est to children until the period of oncoming adolescence. 
The teacher needs to know that respect for law appears 
rather suddenly and that school crimes have their ex- 
planation in the retarding of the social impulses which 
lead children to respect the rights of property and the 
virtue of truthfulness. Children in whom these impulses 
are belated are examples of retarded development, and 
the teacher needs to know this fact in order to employ 
the best method of procedure to enable such children to 
grow into the proper respect for law and order. The ado- 
lescent period is remarkable for the great and sudden 
changes that occur in the nature and interests of chil- 
dren. 

Possible Injury from Ignorance. — A person who is 
ignorant of these facts of child life and is unacquainted 
with the phenomena of adolescence is as likely to do in- 
jury to children as he is to do good. Sometimes the 
best recommendation that a teacher can have is that he 
is ineffective. He is like a homeopathic pill. At least 
he can do no harm. 

Much has been written in recent years about the 
phenomena of adolescence, but other periods of child 
life are as full of startling changes as this. The teacher 
who does not know these facts of child life is unable 
to attain his highest efficiency. 

Necessity for Continuous Study. — These are the lines 
of professional knowledge in which each teacher ought 
to grow. No teacher can ever be called master of them 



WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 27 

all, but every teacher may persist in the acquisition of 
this kind of knowledge as long as he teaches. A per- 
son who has not had special preparation for teaching 
before he begins is handicapped in all his work, but the 
best professional preparation merely prepares one to 
enter upon the study of the profession. Such a person 
has not completed his professional study. He is only 

beginning it. ~ 

& & Synopsis. 

1. There is a difference between the knowledge of 
a subject that a teacher needs to have and that which 
a pupil, or a well-informed person is likely to get. It 
is this difference which constitutes the professional 
knowledge of teaching, and distinguishes the professional 
from the non-professional teacher. 

2. The teacher should know, not only the subject 
in a professional way, but he needs to know the real 
purpose and aim of education. Only when this is known 
can he most effectively direct his efforts in teaching. 

3. The teacher should study child nature, and the 
changes which occur in the mental and moral constitu- 
tion of the child in the course of the child's school career. 
He needs to know, also, the mental processes which it 
is necessary to induce in the child to lead him to ac- 
complish the purpose for which he is sent to school. 

4. The teacher needs to know the pedagogical con- 
tent of the subject; or what there is in the subject that 
may be used to induce, in the course of learning it, that 
mental process which will produce the desired effect 
upon the child. 



CHAPTER II. 
The Study of Psychology. 

Why Study Psychology? — Psychology is the basis of 
all scientific pedagogy. No course of training for teach- 
ers can be considered satisfactory that is not established 
upon psychological foundations, yet it is not always easy 
to state wherein the study of psychology has aided the 
teacher. If the preceding statement is true, we must 
be able to show wherein the teacher who has studied 
psychology is better prepared for his work than is one 
who has not studied psychology. We must show in 
what respect a teacher who has studied psychology is 
a better teacher than the same person would have 
become had he not studied psychology. Or, again, we 
must show in what respect he is a better teacher than 
he would have become, if instead of studying psychology 
he had devoted the same amount of energy to studying 
something else. 

Psychology Not a Set of Rules. — One misapprehen- 
sion of the subject is very common among teachers. The 
belief is prevalent that psychology is a set of rules 
which will direct us in the process of teaching. Many 
teachers believe that nothing that they have learned in 
psychology has helped them in their teaching. The 

28 



THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 29 

origin of this belief is found in the fact that they have 
looked upon psychology as something which they could 
apply directly in their school work. A case of discipline, 
a serious question of method, a problem of manage- 
ment has appeared for solution, and no psychological 
rule has been at hand to furnish an answer. Hence 
arises the statement that psychology has been of no 
service in teaching. 

Misapprehension from the Term Applied Psychology. 
— The belief that psychology is something in the nature 
of a system of rules to be acted upon in various vicissi- 
tudes of teaching is fostered somewhat by the use of 
the term "applied psychology." There is a mischievous 
implication in the term. In the ordinary sense of the 
word there can be no such thing as applied psychology. 
It is not a series of rules that can be applied to teaching. 
In another sense of the word, any psychology that can- 
not be applied is worthless. Let us try to understand the 
advantages gained in the study of psychology, and we 
shall harmonize the apparent contradiction involved in 
these two statements. 

Effect of Psychology Upon a Teacher s Attitude. — 
The greatest effect produced by the study of psychology 
is to be found in the change it makes in the teacher's 
attitude toward the business of teaching. 

1. The teacher who has studied psychology is likely 
to teach the child, while the teacher w r ho has not studied 
psychology is likely to teach the subject. 

2. The teacher who has not studied psychology is 



30 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

likely to pin his faith to devices, while the teacher 
who has studied psychology is likely to look through 
the devices to the mental processes which the devices 
are intended to call forth. 

3. The teacher who has not studied psychology is 
satisfied with the learning of the subject, while the 
teacher who has studied psychology is likely to see the 
change which it is designed to produce by means of the 
subject upon the mind of the child, and to recognize the 
mental processes which it is necessary to engender in 
order to produce that change. 

The Teacher Works With Children's Minds. — It is 
a truism too common to have much influence, that a 
teacher works with the minds of the children. In order 
to know how to work with those minds, the teacher 
must know the laws of mental operation and growth. 
This is a truth to which many teachers will give an in- 
tellectual assent, and then proceed in a manner directly 
contrary to that in which they must act if they really 
believed it to be true. A bricklayer or a carpenter works 
with material, and we can rather easily estimate the 
worth of his work in the increase of value which it has 
given to the materials employed. Such work is not pro- 
fessional work. The teacher's work is professional work, 
for it deals with the immaterial part of man, and with the 
living spirit. The teacher cannot rise to the dignity 
of an artist in his profession who does not conceive of 
his work in this light. The more a teacher studies 
psychology, the more likely he is to feel, to realize, and 



THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 31 

to act as if he believed that he is employed to produce 
an effect upon the living, spiritual, immortal souls 
of children entrusted to his care. Looked at in this way, 
psychology is not something that can be learned; it is 
something that must be lived. We cannot learn psy- 
chology, in this sense, in a little while. There must be 
time enough devoted to the study of the subject to enable 
us to attain the mental attitude here indicated. It is in 
this way that psychology appears to have its greatest 
value. 

Psychology Teaches How to Study Children. — The 
second advantage in the study of psychology is apparently 
less intangible than the one that has just been adduced. 
The teacher needs to study the children in their indi- 
vidual capacities. He needs to know each child in such 
a way that he can appreciate the motives which induce 
him to act in the way that he does, and when his actions 
are wrong, to apply such incentives as will cause him 
to act in a different way. The study of psychology is 
a preparation for the study of children. 

Why Begin With Adult Psychology? — Adult psy- 
chology is a necessary preliminary to the study of child 
psychology. It is necessary for us to begin our study 
of psychology with an examination of our own minds, 
for our own minds are the only ones that we can observe 
directly. We study children's minds by interpreting their 
actions in terms of our own mental processes, with such 
modifications as we believe to be necessary. A teacher 
who has studied child psychology will know to what 



32 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

motives he must appeal in order to govern wisely. We 
learn, for example, the theory of play. We know from 
our studies why some plays have an attraction for certain 
children, while they have no attraction for children who 
are older or younger. We learn that particular plays 
attract certain children because they are in a stage of 
development which corresponds to the activities involved 
in the play. We can, then, by observing the plays of 
children determine something about the stage of devel- 
opment in which a child is, and we can adjust our 
methods, devices, and incentives to this stage of his de- 
velopment. 

Understanding Delinquent Children. — Not different is 
it with lying, cheating, and stealing. We learn in our 
psychology how to regard these criminal instincts in 
a scientific way, and we shall exercise greater wisdom 
in dealing with such cases of criminal tendency. Know- 
ing that we must regard these criminal tendencies as 
manifestations of an undeveloped condition, we may 
avoid mistakes that are likely to confirm the child in 
them, and we shall know how to appeal to the proper 
motives to initiate courses of action enabling him to 
develop power to resist the wrong impulse. 

Psychology Teaches Us to Understand Processes In- 
volved in Teaching and Learning. — We are to teach chil- 
dren to think, but if we do not know what thinking is 
we shall work blindly. When we know that thinking con- 
sists in the perception of relations, and that it is possible 
to reduce all relations to a single one, that of resem- 



THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 33 

blance or difference, we shall be better prepared to induce 
this activity of thinking than if we had no clear no- 
tions about it. The same thing is true of such ideas as 
are expressed by the words "explain," and ''understand." 
We say that we wish our children to understand the 
things we are teaching. If we know that by "under- 
stand" we mean to perceive the relations that a thing 
holds to something else that is already known, then we 
shall be better prepared to cause our children to under- 
stand than if we ourselves have failed to obtain a clear 
notion of the process which the word "understand" ex- 
presses. The same thing is true of the idea expressed 
by the word "explain." YVe say that we must explain 
the idea in the lesson. But if we ourselves do not know 
exactly what we mean by explain, we shall have diffi- 
culty in the process. When we know that by explaining 
we mean the pointing out of the relations that the 
thing holds to something else that is already known, we 
shall accomplish the explanation much more readily and 
directly. It is not likely that we shall get an adequate 
notion of thinking, explaining, and understanding with- 
out the study of psychology. 

Psychology Necessary to Understand Educational 
Ideas. — It is necessary for us to have an adequate notion 
of what is meant by interest, apperception, imitation, 
habit, play. These ideas and many others of a similar 
nature are involved constantly in educational discussions, 
especially as motives to study and to behavior in school. 
We need to have as clear a conception as possible of these 



34 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

notions, and such a conception of them is impossible 
without a knowledge of psychology. Unless we approach 
them through and by means of psychology, they will be 
to us mere words and symbols, utterly unavailable for 
use in producing mental activity or determining proper 
behavior. The interests and feelings constitute the mo- 
tives of children, and we cannot understand their motives 
unless we have a knowledge of psychology. 

Psychology Determines Devices Employed. — Our de- 
vices are determined by our knowledge of psychology. 
We cannot avoid the employment of devices, nor would 
it be wise to do so if we could. It is not enough that we 
should know the subject and the laws of mental action; 
there must be some way of bringing the subject and the 
mind of the child into contact with each other. There 
must be some method of procedure by which a desired 
mental effect may be produced in the process of learn- 
ing. The teacher who has not studied psychology is 
likely to see only the device. He sees somebody teach 
by the word method ; or employ some plan of using blocks 
in teaching square root ; or adopt some way of using 
bundles of sticks to illustrate the decimal notation, or 
exploit some little twist in map drawing, and immediately 
he thinks that this is the one and only way to teach these 
subjects. He is likely to be tied down and seriously lim- 
ited by his devices. The teacher who has studied psychol- 
ogy knows that the aim of his work must be to produce 
some effect upon the mind of the child. He undertakes 
to determine what mental processes must be induced in 



THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 35 

the mind of the child to produce this effect. Then he 
decides how the subject matter may be employed so as 
to produce this mental activity in the process of learn- 
ing. The device, to him, is merely a plan for producing 
a perviously determined mental activity. To the teacher 
who has not studied psychology, the device is a way of 
teaching the subject. 

Different Effects from Learning the Same Subject. — 
A subject may be so taught and so learned as to produce 
one effect, or another effect. A child who is directed 
to learn a rule in arithmetic, and then to solve problems 
by applying the rule, derives a very different effect from 
the learning of the subject than does one who is taught 
to solve problems by perceiving the relations existing 
between the quantities, and concludes his study by formu- 
lating a rule. A pupil who learns the laws of falling 
bodies, and then employs an Atwood's machine to illus- 
trate the laws, or to see that they are true, derives a very 
different effect from his study than does the pupil who 
is set to work to determine how far a body falls in one, 
two, and three seconds and from the relations which 
he is compelled to recognize between these different 
spaces, to generalize, and to state a law. 

< Good or Bad Devices. — The effect to be produced 
upon the mind of the child determines the device to be 
employed, and a device must be considered good or bad, 
according as it produces or does not produce the de- 
sired effect. We shall produce one effect or another in 
studying the same subject and by learning the same 



36 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

facts according as we use one or another device. The 
psychological effect to be produced determines the de- 
vice to be employed. If we are unacquainted with 
psychology, and with the relations of mental processes 
to one another, we shall be at the mercy of our devices. 

A Subject Is a Construction of Thought. — In the 
previous chapter it was stated that the teacher needs 
to have a professional knowledge of the subject. Such 
professional knowledge shows how the mind has acted 
constructively in building up a system of thought. The 
professional knowledge of history shows how the mind of 
man has operated collectively in building up our insti- 
tutional life; while such knowledge of arithmetic, shows 
how the mind has operated in building up the system 
of mathematical conceptions that is manifested in and 
through the subject. The professional knowledge of 
the subject must manifest the method of thought that 
runs through it. The thought in the subject and the 
nature of the mind determines the device to be em- 
ployed. Hence it is that a knowledge of psychology is 
essential to the successful study of any subject as a pre- 
paration for teaching. 

Effect of Learning Different Subjects. — A knowledge 
of psychology will, also, enable us to understand the 
mental processes which are especially prominent in learn- 
ing any subject. Some subjects may be used more 
economically than others in producing a given effect upon 
the mind and character of a child. While the learning 
of every subject involves the same mental processes, the 



THE STUDY OF TSYCHOLOGY 37 

different subjects vary in the relative amounts of men- 
tal processes that are demanded. The teacher should 
know what subjects can be employed most economically 
in producing desired mental effects. He must know what 
the mental processes are, their relations to each other, 
and how they are manifested in the learning of each 
subject. 

Economy of Effort in Learning. — In learning, certain 
mental processes are always involved. There can be no 
acquisition of knowledge without remembering. Psy- 
chology shows us the laws of remembering, and how we 
may apply our efforts in order to remember most 
efficiently. It shows us that in order to remember most 
successfully, the entire lesson to be remembered should 
be studied as a whole, and not studied piece-meal. It 
shows us also, that the same amount of energy devoted 
to studying, accomplishes a greater result if it is not 
expended all at one time, but that it should be broken 
up into several intervals of study. It shows us that our 
forgetting is most rapid in the first few hours that elapse 
after the thing has been learned. We forget nearly half 
of what we have learned in the first six hours after learn- 
ing it. Especially is this true if we turn immediately 
to the study of some other lesson, or engage in some 
other occupation. 

Importance of Attention. — Psychology shows us also 
what attention is, and the very great importance of at- 
tention in any learning process. All learning processes 
depend upon attention, and without it no education is 



38 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

possible. Attention may be either positive or negative, 
although one kind involves the other. Without a satis- 
factory knowledge of the conditions of attention, a teacher 
will find it impossible to achieve the best results. 

Lazvs of the Learning Process. — Psychology shows 
us that the process of learning is not a regular, uni- 
form progression in the acquisition of knowledge or 
skill; but that there are intervals of rapid improvement, 
alternating with periods when no progress is observable. 
This seems to be inevitable, and is recognized in every 
process of learning. Unless we know the laws of the 
learning process, as psychology exhibits them to us, we 
shall be placed at a serious disadvantage in teaching. 

These are only a few of the things that psychology 
has for us, which are of immediate utility in teaching. 

Summary of the Advantages of Psychology. — So we 
see that for all these things, the attaining of the proper 
attitude toward teaching, the studying of the nature of 
the children, the production of the desired kinds of ac- 
tivity, the determination of the devices needed to pro- 
duce the desired effect, the proper knowledge of the 
subject that will enable us to employ it effectively, — 
for all these things it is necessary that the teacher shall 
have made a careful and long continued study of psy- 
chology. 

Synopsis. 

1. Psychology is not a system of rules that may be 
applied to the teaching of children. 

2. A knowledge of psychology is of advantage in 



THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 39 

enabling the teacher to attain a proper attitude of mind 
toward the business of teaching. 

3. It is a prerequisite to the sudy of children, and 
to a comprehension of the way in which the child's mind 
acts, grows and develops. 

4. It is necessary to enable us to recognize the 
pedagogical content of a subject. 

5. It enables us to attain fundamental notions 
of such processes as thinking, explaining, understand- 
ing. 

6. It can give us some positive information about 
the processes of learning, remembering, forgetting, and 
other mental activities. 



CHAPTER III. 
Meaning of Education. 

Inherited Characteristics. — When a child is born it 
has certain inherited characteristics. It has the human 
form, two eyes, two hands, and senses that belong to the 
human race. It has the shape of features and the pecu- 
liarities of hair and of eyes derived from its parents. 
Besides these characteristics of bodily structure, it has 
tendencies of body and mind that will enable it to 
grow into and become something different from what 
it is at birth. This combination of physical characteris- 
tics and inherited tendencies we may call its heredity. 
It is evident that no part of this heredity is education. 

The Larger Meaning of Education. — But the child 
may have its growth modified. Every experience that 
it has leaves it something different from what it was 
before the experience affected it. This modification of 
growth is what, in the broad sense of the word, we may 
designate as education. Education, then, is the modifi- 
cation of growth resulting from the child's experiences. 
These experiences depend upon his environment, but 
environment does not constitute education. The child 
reacts upon his environment, and it is this reaction 
which modifies growth and constitutes his education. We 

40 



MEANING OF EDUCATION 41 

sometimes hear the statement that what a person is at 
any time depends upon his heredity and his environment. 
It is more nearly the truth to say that what a person is at 
any time depends upon his heredity and his education. 
The environment does not modify the person unless he 
reacts upon it. 

Education Inevitable. — This use of the word education 
is the larger and more comprehensive meaning of the 
term. It involves some curious consequences. One con- 
sequence of this larger meaning of the term is that every 
person must be educated. There is no escape from the 
process. Every person reacts upon his environment, and 
has his growth modified thereby. Every experience pro- 
duces some modification of the individual's growth and 
this modification of growth constitutes education in the 
larger meaning of the term. 

Education a Continuous Process. — The second corol- 
lary is that education is a continuous process. It begins 
at birth and continues as long as the individual lives. It 
is not something that can be begun and finished. 

Narrower Meaning of Education. — In the narrower 
use of the word education, we mean the process by which 
the mental and moral growth of the child is modified in 
school, and we generally use the word in this limited 
sense. While this is really too restricted a use of the 
word, it is very natural that we should employ it, for the 
school is the one institution which the community 
formally establishes and sets aside for the purpose of 
producing modifications in the mental and moral growth 



42 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

of children. We recognize that other institutions, the 
family, home, church, government, everything contrib- 
utes to their education, but the school is especially 
designed for that purpose, and has no other function. It 
must be expected, therefore, to produce a greater effect 
upon the growth of the child than any institution that 
is not so designed. Hence we limit the word education to 
the process by which growth is modified in school. 

School, the Community Ideal. — The establishment of 
the school implies that the community believes it possible 
to modify the mental growth of a child in one way or 
another. It is a recognition of the fact that the child may 
have his growth modified in a way that the community 
believes to be good, or in another way that it believes to 
be bad. The community establishes a school, builds a 
schoolhouse, employs the teacher, and adopts such a 
course of study as it believes will bring about the kind 
of growth in children which is desirable. Hence we may 
say that the school embodies the ideal of the community. 
It represents the ideal that the community holds of what 
the individual ought to become. 

Literal Definition of Education. — We are now ready 
to consider a definition of education. If we look at the 
literal meaning of the word, we shall have some kind of 
definition. The word is derived from two Latin words, 
e, meaning out, and duco, I lead. The thought in the 
word is that education is the leading out, or the drawing 
out of the powers of the mind. This literal meaning of 
the word points us back to a system of psychology that 



MEANING OF EDUCATION 43 

has been largely discarded , for we now speak rather of 
mental processes than of mental powers. If the word 
means anything in its literal sense, now, it means that 
education is a process of assisting in the mental develop- 
ment of man. 

Development and Brain Activity. — Mental develop- 
ment is closely parallel to the development of brain ac- 
tivities. We are unable to state positively what is the 
connection between mind and body, but we do know 
enough to assert without any hesitation that for every 
mental process there is a corresponding physiological 
change, which takes the form of the transmission of a 
nervous impulse through a nervous arc. Every time 
a nervous impulse passes through a nervous arc 
it facilitates the transmission of the next impulse. Simi- 
larly, every mental process, such as is involved in learn- 
ing, makes it easier to engender the next. The more we 
learn the easier the process of learning becomes.: 

Education as Development. — The child has at birth all 
the brain cells that it will ever have. There are probably 
as many as seven hundred million cells in the brain of a 
little child, nearly all of which are at first undeveloped. 
The cells are small and have no dendrites or cell branches, 
and they are incapable of transmitting or originating 
nervous impulses. They have not formed connections 
with other brain cells, nor become organized into brain 
centers. Nervous impulses are started in the sense 
organs, and transmitted along the nerves to the brain 
cells. As a result of repeated attempts of successive im- 



44 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

pulses to pass through the brain cells, the cells become 
developed, dendrites grow out, connections with other 
cells are established, and brain centers are formed. In 
this way we can picture to ourselves the physiological 
changes which are parallel to the mental development. 
Education produces this kind of development in the brain 
cells by furnishing the proper kind of experiences, and by 
establishing nervous impulses which are carried through 




Education as Development. 

Four Neurons. 
A and C, from the cerebellum ; B, from the spinal cord ; D, 
from the cerebrum ; a, the axon. The cells A and D are 
stained so that the main body and the dendrites are black; 
B and C show the nucleus. 

brain centers that would otherwise be untraversed. De- 
velopment, then, is really one of the elements of educa- 



MEANING OF EDUCATION 4o 

tion, and any statement of education must take this ele- 
ment into account. 

Education as Adjustment. — But development is not 
the only element in education. In order that the child 
may develop it must live. The child must learn how to 
obtain food, clothing and shelter, and how to avoid dan- 
gers that threaten his existence. These things constitute 
portions of his environment and furnish opportunities for 
experiences by means of which he becomes developed. 
This is a process of adaptation or of adjustment to his 
environment. The child must learn to live in his en- 
vironment and constantly needs to adjust himself to it. 
Life itself is an adjustment of the internal conditions of 
the individual to the outer circumstances of his environ- 
ment. Environment includes not merely the natural and 
physical surroundings of the child, but the social com- 
munity with all its manners, customs, traditions, institu- 
tions and history in which he finds himself placed. He 
must learn of all these circumstances, and how to conform 
his own life to them. 

Education a Change from Dependent to Independent. 
— There are almost as many definitions of education as 
there are persons who have written about it. Let us see 
what must enter into any satisfactory definition. The 
child is at first a completely dependent individual. With- 
out the aid of other persons, no child could survive the 
first few days, or the first few years of childhood. By 
the process of education he is changed from a dependent 
to an independent being. This must enter into our 



46 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

definition, for it is by the process of education that this 
change occurs. Education, then, is the process by which 
a child is changed from a dependent to an independent 
being. 

Education a Change from Egoistic to Altruistic 
Being. — But this is not all. At first, the child is a per- 
fectly egoistic being, and has no regard for other persons. 
His only business is to live and he makes everything else 
contribute to that end. He has no consideration for 
anybody except himself. He must change from the con- 
dition of an egoistic to that of an altruistic being, who 
will regard the rights of others. This change is brought 
about by the process of education. Education, then, is 
the process by which a child is changed from a dependent, 
egoistic being to an independent, altruistic being. 

Education a Change from Self-Centered to Social 
Attitude. — But the child is also self-centered. He regards 
everything from his own standpoint. He looks at every- 
thing in the light of its effect upon himself. He must 
.change from this view-point to one in which he may 
consider matters in the light of their effect upon the 
entire community of which he is a part. He must regard, 
not merely the rights of an individual, even though that 
individual be some other than himself, but he must regard 
the rights of the community. He must change from a 
self-centered being to a social being. This change is 
brought about by the process of education. Hence we 
may say that education is the process by which a child 
is changed from a dependent, egoistic, self-centered being, 
to an independent, altruistic, social being. 



MEANING OF EDUCATION 47 

It is by the process of education thus described, that 
the child becomes adjusted to his environment and de- 
veloped as an individual. 

Synopsis. 
1. Education may be used with two different mean- 
ings, the broader and the narrower. In the broader 
meaning of the word, it is the total change that is pro- 
duced in the child's growth by his experiences. In the 
narrow sense of the word, it is the change that is pro- 
duced in his growth by his experiences in school. 

2. Education includes two elements, development and 
adjustment. 

3. Education is the process by which a child is 
changed from a dependent, egoistic, self-centered being 
to an independent, altruistic, social being. 



CHAPTER IV. 
What Education Does for the Child. 

A Boy's Objections to Going to School. — We have 
many discussions of education from the view-point of the 
teacher, the philosopher, or of the community, but few 
from that of the child. We wish to look at it, if possible, 
as a child who has not attended school very much looks 
at it, to see what answer we may make, if any, to the 
objections that a boy sometimes raises to attendance upon 
school. This is a problem that every teacher must some 
time in his teaching- exoerience confront. 

Successful Uneducated Men. — The problem sometimes 
arises from the objection of a boy who refuses to go to 
school claiming that education is of no value, and point- 
ing as an illustration of its inutility to the example of 
some eminently successful man who never attended 
school, or who attended so short a time as not to be en- 
titled to rank with educated persons. He may also point 
to the example of some college graduate who is now 
working at twenty-five dollars a week or twenty-five 
dollars a month for the uneducated, successful man. 
Sometimes it takes the form of an objection on the part 
of the parent to sending his children to school, or an 
objection to the payment of taxes, claiming that it in- 
vades personal liberty. What shall we say to such a boy 
or man? 

48 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 49 

Objections to Particular Subjects. — Sometimes the 
objection that the boy makes is an objection to studying 
a particular subject, such as grammar, which subject is 
sometimes very unpopular with boys ; or it may be geogra- 
phy, which is sometimes equally unpopular. Girls in 
high schools frequently have an objection to the study 
of zoology or chemistry, and when this is the case they 
are unable to see that there is any advantage in such 
study. Sometimes the problem arises in the objection 
of an eminently successful man to the study of a par- 
ticular subject. A circuit judge once said to the writer, 
"What is the use of studying algebra? It will never be 
of any use to you. It is a mere juggling with figures, 
and has no application to practical affairs." The assump- 
tion was that since he had become a successful man, had 
been a member of the legislature, been elected circuit 
judge, been a candidate for congress, algebra was not a 
help, or rather, the lack of it was no hindrance to suc- 
cess in his profession. 

Hozv Anszvcr Objections. — The practical problem is, 
How shall we answer these objections? What can we 
say to the persons who raise them? May there not be, 
in the objections they raise, something of truth which it 
is well for us to consider? It is not enough merely to be 
convinced ourselves of the value of an education, im- 
portant as such conviction may be; but it will conduce 
to clearness in our own view if we are able to make it 
clear to others. 

Few Teachers Ready, to Answer. — Nearly all teachers 



50 



PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 



went to school because their parents said that they should 
go, and attendance at school was a matter of course with 
them. Consequently few teachers have really determined 
the fundamental principles upon which universal educa- 
tion is justified. The objections raised will furnish us 
an opportunity to think carefully about the matter. It is 
necessary for us to know the real value to the child, 
not to the state, of attendance upon school, so that we 
may be able to present the argument in an effective way 
to him. 

The Money Argument. — There is one argument that 
will appeal to some men who can be reached by no other ; 
that is the argument from the increased earning power 
of the educated man. A farmers' institute not long ago 
adopted a declaration that a school training above the 
elementary school unfitted a boy to become a farmer. 
Therefore, if it is desired to keep a boy on the farm, 
and to make a farmer out of him, he must not go to school 
beyond the time required to learn the elementary school 
subjects. Such persons may be reached by the dollar-and- 
cents argument. Perhaps an apology is needed for pre- 
senting this argument, since it may seem to bring educa- 
tion down to a basis purely mercenary, and to take away 
from it something of the higher character that belongs to 
it. It is believed, however, that the argument is a valid 
one, and fully justified by our definition. 

Justified by Our Definition. — We have said that edu- 
cation is a process by which a child is changed from a 
dependent to an independent being. We have seen that 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 51 

education is an adjustment of the individual to the cir- 
cumstances in which he is placed. Education is the 
process by which the individual becomes adjusted. An 
individual is not adjusted to his environment unless he is 
able to make a living in the place in which he is situated, 
and he cannot be an independent being unless he is able 
tq support himself. A man who is dependent upon the 
community for his support and must live in the poor- 
house or be supported by the community in some other 
way, is not independent, and is not educated, no matter 
how long he may have attended school. So an educated 
man must be able to make a living, or must be able to make 
a better living than he could make if he were not educa- 
ted. The former notion, that education had nothing to do 
with making a living, no doubt grew out of the leisure 
class idea exemplified in education. Let us see if we can 
show that education is really of advantage in making a 
living, and if it has really a money value. 

Money Value of a Man. — How much is a man worth ? 
This seems a foolish question, since "All that a man hath 
will he give for his life." But courts are called upon 
every day to fix the value of a human life in cases where 
a man has been killed by a railroad or other corporation. 
The legislature of Illinois, at one time, fixed the sum of 
five thousand dollars as the largest amount that a corpora- 
tion should be called upon to pay for the killing of a 
man. After a while, juries and courts ventured to assess 
damages of ten thousand or fifteen thousand or twenty 
thousand dollars for the loss of an arm or a leg, while 



52 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

they were permitted to assess not more than five thou- 
sand for the loss of life. All this tends to show that a 
man's arm or leg is worth more than his head, which 
may be true if he is a football player or a baseball pitcher, 
but not in other circumstances. The amount allowed as 
the maximum for a life was subsequently raised to ten 
thousand, but this shows that legislatures believe it possi- 
ble to put a value upon the life of a man. 

Value of the People. — It seems reasonable to make an 
estimate of the value of a man upon the basis of his 
earning power. The census of 1890 showed that the 
total cost of living in the United States was about thirteen 
billion dollars a year. This must be, then, about the 
amount of wealth produced each year, for there is never 
a very large surplus in any one year to be passed to the 
credit side of accumulated wealth. The number of people 
in the United States was about 76 million, and this 
amount means that on the average, every man, woman 
and child in the United States produced about $171.00 
each year. A person who is capable of earning $171.00 in 
a year, reckoning money at five per cent, is worth about 
twenty times $171.00, or $3,420.00. Multiplying this 
amount by 76 million we shall see that on the basis of 
their earning power, the entire population was worth 
about 260 billion dollars. When we compare this amount 
with the total assessed valuation of the property of the 
country, which at that time was about 25 billion dollars, 
we shall find that the people of the country were worth 
more than ten times the total assessed valuation of the 
property of the country. 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 53 

But the assessed valuation of the property of the 
country is probably not more than four-tenths of the 
real value. This would make the real valuation of the 
property of the country about 65 billion dollars, and the 
people, on this basis, would still be worth more than three 
times the total value of the property of the country. 

The People the Real Wealth of the Country. — Since 
1890 conditions have changed. The population of the 
country has increased about ten millions, the earning 
power has increased about fifty per cent, the total assessed 
valuation of the property is now about 75 billions, and the 
real value not far from 200 billions. Calculations will 
show that, based upon earning power, the people of the 
country are worth about 440 billions, which is nearly six 
times the total assessed valuation of the property, and 
more than twice the real value of the property. This 
calculation serves to show that it is the people who con- 
stitute the real wealth of the country. 

Money Value of Education. — How much of this value 
is due to education? It is possible to show that about 
seven-eighths of the value of the people comes from the 
education which they receive in school. But let us make 
a very liberal estimate, and say that one-half of this 
value of the people is due to education. That makes the 
value of the people which is derived from educational 
processes amount to about 220 billion dollars. In order to 
derive this value, for the people of a country, a whole 
generation must be educated. The education of the 
people must be continued for a period of about thirty- 



54 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

three years, which is approximately the lifetime of one 
generation. We are now spending. in this country for 
educational processes ■ about 235 million dollars a year. 
In thirty-three years this amounts to, approximately, eight 
billion dollars. We invest in the education of one gen- 
eration of people about eight billion dollars, and we derive 
from it an increase in the value of the people of about 
220 billion dollars. We put eight dollars into education, 
and draw out, in increased value, 220 dollars. For every 
dollar that we invest in education there is an increased 
value of 27 dollars to the people. This looks like a 
pretty good investment. Although these figures are only 
approximate, and there may be considerable error in 
them, still the calculations show the nature and magni- 
tude of the interest with which we are dealing. 

Money Value of Education to the Individual. — But 
our objector may not be impressed by figures that apply 
to the whole country, and may even question the moderate 
estimate that one-half the value and earning power of 
the people is derived from school education. He may 
demand something more specific, which will apply directly 
to his own case. How much is education worth to the 
individual directly? Superintendent Schaefrer figures it 
out in this way. He says that in the part of Pennsylva- 
nia in which he lives, a man who is wholly uneducated, 
capable of doing only the lowest grade of work, which 
demands the least amount of intelligence, calling only 
for the exercise of muscle, is able to earn about $150.00 
a year. A man who is capable of earning $150.00 a year 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 3D 

has in himself a capitalized value of $3,000.00. If he 
had $3,000.00 and should put it out at interest at five 
per cent, it would bring the same income that he now 
earns by his labor. 

Value of School Attendance Per Day. — Statistics 
show that the average earnings of a college graduate 
in this country are about $1,200.00 a year. A man who 
is able to earn $1,200.00 a year has in himself a capitalized 
value of $24,000.00. The difference, the only difference 
that we have considered, is the difference derived from 
attendance upon school sufficiently to graduate from col- 
lege. This difference is $21,000.00 which the college 
education has added to the value of the man. If we 
assume that the school year is 200 days long, and that 
there are eight years in the elementary grades, four years 
in the high school and four years in college, this would 
require an attendance upon school 3,200 days. But no 
one ever does attend school 3,200 days in order to gradu- 
ate from college. Perhaps 2,000 days is sufficient time 
for accomplishing that result under favorable circum- 
stances. Two thousand days' attendance upon school re- 
sults in an increased capitalized value to the individual 
of $21,000.00. This means that the time of the pupil in 
going to school is worth anywhere from ten and a half 
dollars a day. on the two thousand-day basis, to six dollars 
and a half on the thirty-two hundred-day basis. Yet we 
all know many parents who have kept their children out 
of school for a much less sum of money than ten dollars 
and a half a daw 



56 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Three Conditions Necessary. — This calculation as- 
sumes three things : First, that the child is capable of 
profiting by an educational opportunity. It assumes that 
he is not feeble-minded, although states find that it is 
profitable to educate feeble-minded children in special 
institutions, at a much greater expense than is necessary 
for normal children. So perhaps this limitation ought 
not to be mentioned. It certainly is true that unless the 
child conforms to the regulations that the school imposes, 
learns his lessons, obeys the rules, and does as he is 
expected to do, this increase in value is not derived from 
attendance upon school. 

Value of Good Teaching. — The second assumption is 
that the teaching shall be of the right kind. If the 
teaching is poor, it is not possible for the children to 
derive anything like this amount of value from attendance 
upon school. This is the justification for demanding the 
best teachers that can be obtained. If the teaching is 
poor, not only will little value be added to the individual, 
but there may be a positive detriment to the child. If 
it is possible for a good teacher to add to the capitalized 
value of his pupils anything like ten dollars and a half 
a day, an increase of $450.00 a day in a school of forty 
pupils, while the poor teacher can bring about no increase 
in value to the pupils, then it will be readily seen that the 
difference in salary needed to secure a good teacher and 
that required to secure a poor teacher is completely 
negligible. 

Money Value of Different Subjects. — The third thing 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 57 

is that the subjects taught shall be of the proper kind 
for giving this increased valuation. It makes a difference 
what subjects are taught. If earning power is the end 
of education that is sought, then subjects may be selected 
that will contribute largely to this result. Earning power 
is very largely the result of education. 

Industrial Efficiency and Leisure Class Education. — 
There are two general principles underlying the selection 
of subjects for study. One principle may be called that 
of Industrial Efficiency, and the other may be called the 
Leisure Class Principle. Some subjects taught in school 
contribute to industrial efficiency, or earning power, and 
other subjects have no relation to such increase. Some 
persons prefer leisure class education, which is expressed 
by saying that the pupil learns those things that a gentle- 
man ought to know. Leisure class education may not con- 
tribute directly to earning power, and the examples of 
educated men who are unsuccessful in making a living 
are men who have received leisure class education. The 
difficulty lies in confusing the two principles under the 
one term, education. 

Money Value of Industrially Efficient Education. — 
In our statistics showing that the earning power of col- 
lege graduates is $1,200.00 a year, no distinction has been 
made between different kinds of colleges. It will be found 
that technical schools in which students are trained in 
some particular line of industrially efficient work enable 
their graduates to earn more money than do colleges whose 
aim is to give a general education. One of our technical 



58 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

colleges recently collected statistics from the members of 
a class that was graduated ten years before. Of the 180 
members of the class, 151 replied. The average earning 
power of the 151 members was $3,107.00 a year, which 
is much greater than the average of graduates from all 
kinds of colleges. If our education is of the leisure class 
kind, the boy who objects to it, saying that it does not 
contribute to his success in industrial occupations, is 
right. 

How Answer Objections. — Let us answer the objec- 
tions fairly and squarely. Let us not befog the answer, 
nor shrink from his question. It may be that there is 
much of value in the objections, for both the teacher and 
the school, and we may learn much from trying to an- 
swer them. 

Let us suppose that a boy lives in a rural district, 
and already knows that he intends to become a farmer. 
What shall we say to him when he asserts that school 
work contains nothing that will help him to make a living 
by farming, or that will help him to become a better 
farmer than he would become without going to school ? 

The Successful Uneducated Man an Exception. — In 
the first place, we can point out the fact that where there 
is one man who has become wealthy and attained a posi- 
tion of honor and respect in the community without the 
advantages of education, there are hundreds of men 
equally deficient in education who have not made a success 
in life and who have not attained wealth and position. 
The one successful man is an exception. The larger 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 59 

number of men who have made a success of their lives 
are men who have had the advantages of education. With 
a given number of men the chances of making the kind of 
success in life that he desires is considerably greater for 
the educated than for the uneducated man. The un- 
educated man finds himself confronted by very serious 
limitations that the educated man does not feel. More 
than this, no one has ever said that education is a 
hindrance, while many persons without education assert 
that education would have been an advantage to them. 

The Advantageous Subjects in School. — In the sec- 
ond place we may point out to the boy that there are 
many things in school work which are of direct benefit to 
him in his farming operations. Besides reading and 
writing, we may show that the processes of arithmetic 
and denominate numbers are indispensable to him. 
Weighing, measuring, and calculations with denominate 
numbers will be admitted as helpful by the boy himself. 
If the things that we teach in arithmetic are not of such 
a nature as to make them serviceable to the boy in his 
work, then it is the part of wisdom to change them in 
such a way that they will become so. The principles of 
arithmetic may be illustrated as well by one set of prob- 
lems as by another. There is no reason why we should 
teach denominate numbers except that they represent a 
common kind of utility. We may make our arithmetic 
work all of such a nature that it will be directly servicea- 
ble, without detracting from its culture value, or failing 
to teach the fundamental principles of mathematics. 



60 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Economic Advantage of Science. — Then we can point 
to the fact that the knowledge of plant life, plant growth, 
weeds, fertilization, and other things that constitute the 
subject matter of nature study, or elements of agriculture, 
are directly useful to him in his business. The facts of 
animal life, the economic importance of insects and earth- 
worms, the elements of chemistry, which may be taught 
in any school, are indispensable to any kind of success 
in farming above the lowest. So the objection that is 
raised may contain enough of truth to make it exceed- 
ingly important to us. We may find it necessary to 
modify our courses of study to meet the objections of the 
boy, for certainly the kind of education that does not 
contain an appeal to every boy is not the kind of educa- 
tion that will conform to our definition. 

Advantage of Other Subjects. — When we are able to 
show that school work does contain some things that will 
be of service to the boy, then we are ready to show that it 
is well for him to learn something that does not now 
appear to him as likely to be -serviceable in the occupa- 
tion that he has chosen. We can show him that there are 
things taught in school which people generally have 
found to be helpful in the affairs of life even though 
their immediate utility cannot be easily seen. The loyalty 
of the most perverse boy may thus be enlisted and his 
interest in school work aroused. Interest, we shall see, 
is the feeling arising from the recognition of the relation 
existing between the thing to which we are attending and 
ourselves. We shall need to search for this relation be- 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 61 

tween the thing we teach and the life the boy is to lead, 
and discover how to make it apparent. Unless it can be 
shown to exist, we have little reason for teaching the 
subjects that now make up our curriculum. 

Freedom from Limitations. — But there is a second 
reason for attending school that cannot be open to the 
charge of being mercenary. There is a difference be- 
tween the educated and the uneducated man. The unedu- 
cated man finds himself limited in a way that the educated 
man does not. We are pressed upon on all sides by our 
limitations. The soul struggles to be free. Freedom is 
the first demand that the soul makes. 

The Limitations in Time. — We are limited in time. 
Our years of conscious life begin with our earliest recol- 
lections, and continue as long as we live. We strive 
desperately to surpass these limits, and to discover what 
will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year. In 
default of any other method of revealing the future, 
many persons consult fortune tellers, and dream books 
as a forlorn hope. Perhaps it is this desire for freedom 
that lies at the foundation of the soul's demand for im- 
mortality and a life after death. The United States gov- 
ernment is expending thousands of dollars every year in 
the attempt to remove the limits of time in the future 
for twenty- four or forty-eight hours, and to discover what 
the weather will be. All of us think the money is wisely 
expended. 

Limits of Past Time. — We are more successful in 
pushing back the limits of time in the past. By means 



62 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

of the processes of education we can learn about the 
heroes of the olden time. We can know of George Wash- 
ington and the men who founded the colonies. We can 
live in some degree in the time of Columbus, and ex- 
perience something of the exaltation of spirit that his 
discoveries brought about. We can watch the process 
by which the institutions of political government became 
established, and know of the struggle of King John with 
his barons at Runnymede. We can live in the old Roman 
and Grecian clays, and can watch the building of the 
pyramids in the valley of the Nile. We can go farther 
back even than this, and can learn from the sun-dried 
bricks of Babylon and Assyria. We can learn of the cave- 
men in France, and from a knowledge of the flint imple- 
ments of the Indians we can reconstruct in part the life 
that these primitive people lived. Just in so far as we are 
able to do this, we can take into our own lives something 
of the life that they lived, and add to our own experi- 
ences something of the experiences which they had. Thus 
we add to the quantity of human life through the pro- 
cesses of education, without increasing our length of 
years. Life is not merely linear. It has breadth and 
unsuspected depths. 

The Limitations in Space. — We are limited by space. 
The processes of education enable us in part to remove 
these limits. Were it not for this possibility we should 
never be able to see more of the earth than we can walk 
around. By the processes of education we learn to build 
ships and railroads which carry us swiftly to far por- 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 63 

tions of the earth. By reading books of geography and 
travel, we are able to understand something of the nature 
of the countries that we may never hope to visit, and 
to take into our own lives something of what we read 
about there. We can read in the morning paper of events 
that have happened in different parts of the earth, and 
this is likewise the removal of the limits of space. Just 
in so far as we are able to do this, we enlarge our lives 
and make them fuller and richer. We live more in the 
years of our life than it would be possible for us to do 
were it not for the removal of the limits of space. It is 
this thought that Tennyson expresses when he says, 
"Better fifty years of Europe 
Than a cycle of Cathay." 
Cathay was evidently a place in which there was little 
opportunity to live a full, rich life, while it is possible 
to do so in Europe. 

The Limitations of Disease. — We are limited by dis- 
ease. By the processes of education, we learn to push 
back this limit, and to live a larger number of years than 
it would be possible were it not for education. The 
average length of life in all civilized countries is con- 
stantly increasing. So by the processes of education we 
not only increase the quantity of human life in a given 
number of years, but we actually increase the number of 
years themselves. 

Other Limitations. — We are limited by climate, by 
seasons, by latitude. By the processes of education we 
may enlarge these limits and live in places where other- 



64 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

wise life would be impossible. In every direction we 
push back the limits and increase the amount of life that 
we may live. This is the thought in Holmes's Chambered 
Nautilus : 

"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul 
As the swift seasons roll. 
Leave thy low-vaulted past, 
Let each new temple nobler than the last, 
Shut thee from Heaven with a dome more vast, 
Till thou at length art free, 

Leaving thine outgrown shell on Life's unresting sea." 
The Quantity of Life. Not only is education an 
eminently practical matter, not only does it enable 
us to push back the limits and add to the quan- 
tity of our lives, but it is by means of the pro- 
cesses of education that the child enters upon his in- 
heritance. A body of knowledge has been accumulated 
slowly and laboriously by the work of thousands of men 
through all the years and centuries. This constitutes 
a part of the child's race inheritance, and it rightfully 
belongs to him. By the processes of education the child 
comes into possession of his race inheritance, and to keep 
him out of it by ignorance is to defraud him of his rights. 
Synopsis. 

1. Education has a commercial value. The people 
of a country constitute the principal part of the wealth 
of the country, and a large part of this value in the 
people is derived from Education. 

2. Money invested in education returns a larger 



WHAT EDUCATION DOES 65 

per cent on the investment than it can be made to do 
when invested in any other way. 

3. Education enables us to push back the limits of 
time, space, and disease, and to increase not only the 
length of human life, but to intensify it so that we live a 
greater quantity of life in the same number of years than 
would be possible for us without education. 

4. It is by the processes of education that a child 
enters upon his racial inheritance, and to prevent his be- 
coming educated is to defraud him of that which right- 
fully belongs to him. 



CHAPTER V. 
The Aim of Education. 

Importance of a Proper Aim. — We wish to look at 
Education for the purpose of determining what we may 
make of the pupil by its processes. A difference in our 
belief concerning the purposes of education makes a 
difference in our teaching, and to our pupils in learning. 
If we believe that the purpose of education is one thing, 
and that our pupils should derive certain results from 
our teaching, we shall teach in such a way as to cause 
them to get these results. If we set up some other aim 
for education, we shall teach in a different way. Our 
methods of teaching and the subjects taught will very 
largely be determined by our views concerning the aim 
of education. 

The Knowledge Aim. — A great majority of persons 
believe that the acquisition of knowledge is the primary 
purpose of school life. They express it by saying that a 
child goes to school to learn. They believe that the 
educated man is the one who knows a very large number 
of facts. School is regarded as a source of knowledge, 
and if the children acquire a great deal of knowledge as 
the result of their school work, the parents are satisfied. 
Children almost universally entertain this opinion, and 

66 



the Aim of education 67 

when a child is asked why he goes to school, he will 
almost invariably reply it is to learn. A majority of 
teachers hold the same opinion. If they have an intellec- 
tual belief in the validity of some other aim, it is purely 
theoretical and is not permitted to influence their teach- 
ing. Examinations in school, and in whatever other places 
they may occur, attempt to discover the intellectual status 
of the pupil by giving him an opportunity to tell what 
he knows. 

The Knowledge Aim Inadequate. — Notwithstanding 
the popularity of this knowledge aim of education, it is 
not difficult to show that it cannot be the true purpose 
of education. Pupils who study Latin in the high school 
spend nearly all of their second year in reading about 
the campaigns of Caesar against the Gauls. A better and 
more complete knowledge of what Caesar really did in 
Gaul might be obtained in two weeks by reading an Eng- 
lish translation. It is not even a knowledge of the Latin 
language that is especially desired. A knowledge of the 
Latin lesson for any particular day and for any particular 
classic may be obtained in much shorter time and quite 
as accurately by the use of an interlinear translation, com- 
monly called a "pony." But teachers of Latin do not 
advise the reading of ponies, or English translations. On 
the contrary, they try to establish a code of honor which 
will prevent students reading their lessons by the use of 
a pony. It is evident from this illustration that in the 
Latin classes, at least, a knowledge of facts does not con- 
stitute the end that is desired. It is true that a knowledge 



68 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

of Caesar's campaigns and a knowledge of the Latin 
language will be acquired, but it is evident that a knowl- 
edge of these facts does not constitute the purpose for 
which Latin is taught. 

Illustration from Mathematics. — The same thing is 
true in arithmetic and in algebra. We may have a problem 
which demands of us the length of a pole that is two 
sevenths in the water, one seventh in the mud and eight 
feet in the air. If it is the knowledge of the length of 
the pole that is sought, we may turn to a book of an- 
swers and discover the length in that way ; but such a 
method of procedure does not satisfy the teacher. The 
teacher demands that we shall find out by a very tedious 
and painstaking process the length of the pole. If the 
aim and purpose of studying algebra were to gain a 
knowledge of facts, we might commit to memory the 
answers of the problems in the book and learn our les- 
son very easily. It is not even a knowledge of processes 
in arithmetic and algebra that is demanded by the teacher. 
It is true that a knowledge of the facts which constitutes 
the answer to the problem will be obtained, and it is also 
true that a knowledge of the processes by which the 
answer is obtained will be acquired. But the real purpose 
that the teacher of arithmetic or algebra has in mind is 
something very different from this. If a knowledge of 
the processes in algebra were regarded as the purpose 
of the study, the teacher would advise the use of a key, 
by which the processes could easily be learned. This key 
would show how the problems are solved, the different 



THE AIM OF EDUCATION . 69 

processes employed, and the steps to be taken in the 
solution. 

Knowledge of Processes Inadequate. — The older 
books on arithmetic stated the rule, which the pupil was 
expected to memorize. When the rule had been memor- 
ized, the pupil was expected to apply it to the solution 
of problems, and so fix the rule in memory. Thus in the 
older books the rule of three, or the rule of proportion 
was stated as follows : "Write for the third term the 
number that is of the same denomination as that required 
in the answer. Then from the nature of the question 
consider whether the answer must be greater or less than 
the third term. If greater, place the larger of the re- 
maining two numbers for the second term and the smaller 
for the first. Multiply the second and third terms to- 
gether and divide by the first. The quotient will be the 
answer." The learning of the rule gave a knowledge of 
the process. But all such rules are now discarded, show- 
ing that knowledge of the processes is not the aim that 
teachers now seek in arithmetic. 

Example From History. — The same thing is true in 
history. If a knowledge of the facts in history were the 
principal thing sought, we should commit to memory long 
columns of dates, and learn the tables of chronological 
recapitulation, which were once such favorite devices with 
teachers. Teachers of history no longer teach in that 
way, and thus they show that they have largely discarded 
the knowledge aim in education. 

Origin of Objections to School. — It is this knowledge 



70 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

view of education which makes it difficult for a boy to see 
why he should go to school, or why he should study 
particular subjects. His constant query is, "Why should 
I study this?" or "How will a knowledge of this help me 
in the work I am proposing to do?" The teacher must 
have in mind very clearly the real purpose of education 
in order to be able to answer satisfactorily such questions 
of a recalcitrant boy. 

Undue Emphasis of Memory. — It is this knowledge 
view of education that leads to the undue emphasis of 
memory in teaching. Committing to memory is a favor- 
ite requirement of some teachers, and it is justifiable 
only if knowledge is the aim of education. It is this 
knowledge aim also, that sometimes leads a person to 
assert that his school work was of no value to him, be- 
cause he has forgotten all that he learned in school. It is 
really a fortunate thing for most of us that we do forget 
the larger part of the things that we have once learned. 
If there is. not now a volume upon the Uses of Forgot- 
ten Knowledge, there ought to be one, for the phrase is 
very suggestive. 

Aim of Mental Discipline. — Recognizing the inade- 
quacy of the acquisition of knowledge as the aim of edu- 
cation, some persons have undertaken to establish mental 
discipline as the true purpose. It is believed that the 
real purpose of education is not the accumulation of 
knowledge, but the training of the mind. The mind, 
through its processes of learning, becomes able to do 
what otherwise would be impossible for it. Study is a 



THE AIM OF EDUCATION 71 

kind of mental gymnastics, and it matters little what sub- 
ject is studied, provided that it furnishes an opportunity 
for great mental exercise. The more difficult the lesson, 
provided that it is learned, the better discipline it gives. 
The more difficult the method of teaching, provided that 
the pupil is induced to learn the lesson by that method, 
the greater the value to be derived from the teaching. 
This is the reason why teachers of Latin object to trans- 
lations and ponies. They affirm that it is not the knowl- 
edge of the subject which is the matter of especial im- 
portance, but that in the study by which the knowledge 
of the subject is gained, power and ability to do mental 
work in any direction is acquired. 

Symmetrical Development. — The psychological theory 
under the influence of which this idea of mental discipline 
has been developed, assumes that the mind has certain 
powers which need to be cultivated. Some of the powers 
of the mind are likely to be stronger than the other 
powers. The aim of the school should be to develop a 
harmonious individual with his mental powers symmet- 
rically balanced. The definition of education that would 
apply to this scheme of teaching is that education is 
mental development. 

Cultivating the Weak Powers. — The mental discipline 
theory would lead us to develop the weak powers, or weak 
germs of power, rather than to give attention to the 
powers that are already strong. The strong powers, or 
germs of power, will take care of themselves, while the 
weak germs of power will need the attention of the 



/J PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

teacher. The person should study in school those sub- 
jects that will develop especially the powers of the mind 
that are naturally weak, while in selecting an occupation 
for life he should choose that kind which permits the 
exercise of those powers that in him are especially strong. 
If a pupil is particularly weak in mathematics, which fact 
■will generally be shown by strong disinclination to study 
mathematical subjects, he should be put through a severe 
course in mathematical training. If he is inclined to be 
musical and not at all disposed to science, his musical 
powers will take care of themselves, while he needs to 
have his scientific faculties cultivated. 

Opposition Between School and Life. — Here we have 
in business the exercise of the strong powers, and in 
school the exercise of the weak powers. Hence arises 
inevitably, an antagonism between school and life. Not 
only is this antagonism rendered inevitable by holding to 
the' belief in mental discipline as the purpose of school, 
but it is even commended by the advocates of this theory. 
It is this fact that gives point to the remark that in school 
it does not make any difference what you study, pro- 
vided it is something that you do not like. 

Impractical Subjects Best for Discipline. — There is 
another conclusion that seems unavoidable. The sub- 
jects that are proper in school, and which are to be pre- 
ferred for mental discipline, are those which are farthest 
removed from practical utility. That subject is better 
for mental discipline which has and can have no practi- 
cal application. The purpose is to develop those powers 



THE AIM OF EDUCATION 73 

of the mind that are not likely to be developed by the 
occupation in which the person will afterward engage. 

Most Difficult Subjects Best for Discipline. — In the 
opinion of those who hold to this doctrine of mental 
discipline, that subject is best for school instruction in 
which there is the greatest demand for mental work. 
A professor of philosophy states that Latin is a much 
better subject for school instruction than is French or 
English, because in the understanding of a specific sen- 
tence in Latin there is a demand for thirty-two separate 
acts of judgment; while in the corresponding sentence 
in French or English there is a demand for only four- 
teen or fifteen acts of judgment. If this be the standard 
of excellence in subject matter, we might increase the 
number of acts of judgment demanded in reading by 
striking out from the English book every third word ; or 
by printing it in the form of illustrated rebuses, or pic- 
ture writing, which would enable us to increase the num- 
ber of acts of judgment almost indefinitely, making it 
more difficult to read, and affording a much greater 
opportunity for mental discipline. 

Mental Discipline Aim Inadequate. — The theory of 
mental discipline is shown to be defective when we con- 
sider it in the light of present day psychology. It as- 
sumes as a fundamental postulate, that power gained in 
the study of one subject is capable of being applied to 
the study of any other subject. It assumes that a per- 
son who has had his mind trained by the study of Latin 
can apply the power so gained to the study of mechanics ; 



74 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

that a person whose mind has been disciplined by the 
study of mathematics will be found prepared to study 
medicine. That botany will cultivate the observing pow- 
ers to such an extent that a person who has studied 
botany, having been trained to observe fine distinctions, 
will make a good observer in geology, or a good proof- 
reader. The statement is not true. Power gained in the 
study of one subject does not contribute very materially 
to the study of an unrelated subject. 

Physiological Demonstration of Inadequacy of Men- 
tal Discipline Aim. — Let us picture the process in physi- 
ological terms. Let a circle represent the entire field 
of the brain, and let a, b, c, d, e, be portions of this brain 
field. Let us suppose that a comprises all the brain 
cells and centers that are traversed by impulses when we 
are studying Latin, and that b, c, d, are not traversed 
by impulses as a result of this study. Brain cells and 
centers are developed by the transmission of impulses 
through them. They are developed in just the degree 
to which they have been traversed, and have formed 
connections with other cells and centers. Does the study 
of Latin develop the brain cells and centers in that por- 
tion of the brain represented by b, c, d, which by our 
supposition are never traversed by impulses when we are 
studying Latin? Evidently not, and this corresponds to 
the statement we have made, that power gained in the 
study of one subject is incapable of being employed in 
the study of an unrelated subject. 

The Truth in Mental Discipline. — The only escape 



THE AIM OF EDUCATION 75 

from this conclusion is to prove that every brain cell 
and brain center is traversed by impulses when we are 
learning Latin, or, as was the common expression for- 
merly, that the whole mind is involved in every learning 
process. This proposition, however, has been overthrown 
by the doctrine of Localization of Function, which teaches 
that every portion of the brain has its own functions to 
perform. It is true, however, that the more w 7 e learn of 
one subject the more easily a related subject is learned. 
The study of Latin assists in the learning of another 
language, and the more nearly the language is related to 
Latin, the greater the assistance rendered. 

Culture Aim of Education. — Another aim of educa- 
tion, sometimes scarcely discriminated from that of men- 
tal discipline, is culture. Subjects of instruction are 
sometimes classified as culture subjects and content sub- 
jects. It is difficult for any one to define exactly what 
is meant by culture when it is used in this sense, but in 
general, we may say that culture is an expression of the 
leisure class idea. It is best indicated by saying that 
culture consists in learning those things that are gener- 
ally known by cultured people. Cultured people are those 
whose energies have been directed into channels other 
than those employed in making a living. 

The Leisure Class. — By the leisure class is not meant 
a class of people who manifest no activity, but that class 
of people whose activities are not devoted to mercenary, 
profitable or utilitarian ends. Language, art subjects, 
deportment and athletics are favorite culture subjects. 



76 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Each of these departments of culture education manifests 
the expenditure of large amounts of time, whose results 
are not capable of being applied to utilitarian purposes. 
Drawing as a fine art is a culture subject; drawing as 
learned by an engineer is a utilitarian, or content sub- 
ject. 

Culture Not a Universal Aim. — It seems quite evident 
that in communities devoted to the industrial occupations, 
the leisure class idea of education, expressed under the 
term culture, will never be satisfactory. Culture does 
not express a universal aim of education, and therefore 
it can not be adopted as the real purpose and end. We 
need some broader statement of purpose than this can 
ever be made. 

Moral Aim in Education. — Some writers, seeing the 
inadequacy of the knowledge aim, the mental discipline 
aim, and the culture aim of education, have endeavored 
to establish, as the real purpose of education, the mak- 
ing of the individual a moral being. They have set up 
the development of moral character as the only purpose 
in education, This aim changes very much the subjects 
of instruction and modifies the course of study. Such 
writers would make literature and history the basis of 
all school work, believing that it is in and through these 
subjects that the moral nature of the child can best be 
cultivated, and that from them can best be derived the 
ideals which it is necessary for him to acquire. 

Importance of Morality. — The child must become a 
moral being. The very existence of society depends upon 



THE AIM OF EDUCATION 77 

morality. Morality is conformity to the demands of so- 
ciety, and loyalty to the institutions upon which society 
rests. A person who is not moral, is one who has had 
his development arrested upon the plane of an egoistic 
and self-centered being. Hence, according to the very 
terms of our definition he cannot have been educated. 

Non-Morality of Children. — A little child is not moral. 
He will do things which, if performed by older persons, 
we should call immoral. A little child has no regard for 
the rights of property, does not manifest any sense of 
modesty or shame, experiences no feeling of responsibil- 
ity, disregards the rights of others, and shows no con- 
sideration for their feelings. All of these he will acquire 
as he grows up. We excuse him by saying that he is too 
little or too young, to know any better. 

Morality a Matter of Growth. — Morality, then, is a 
matter of development. If the child has good heredity, 
the proper kind of food, and if his ethical atmosphere is 
what it should be, his moral development is assured. 
The things that contribute to the development of the in- 
dividual in any direction are the things which make for 
morality. The child learns how to act in society by 
being placed in social situations that demand action. He 
must come to recognize the rights of others, and he does 
this by means of effective protests which others make when 
he invades their rights. He must be placed in situations 
where such protests may be made and made effectually. 
Hence it is not so much the direct teaching of morality 



78 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

that is demanded as it is the placing of the child in the 
proper conditions for development. 

Inadequacy of the Moral Aim.- — But there are some 
objections more positive than those already indicated to 
the cultivation of morality as the sole aim of education. 
If the development of morality could be realized in an 
ideal way it would still be an unsatisfactory education. 
There are some children in school who are characterized 
as ''goody-good." It is not a term that implies respect, 
but as it is usually employed, it is a designation of 
weakness. It implies that a person so characterized is 
good, but little or nothing else. No teacher feels that a 
child who is called by his fellows goody-good is an ideal 
child. If we were to succeed in making all persons such 
as are implied by morality as the end of education, we 
should have a nation of goody-goods. A good person 
who is not intellectual or efficient, when put into a po- 
sition of authority and responsibility, usually does more 
harm than a person who knows better what to do but is 
morally weaker. There are few persons who would not 
become more indignant at being called a fool than a 
knave. So it appears that the development of morality 
as the end of education is quite as defective as is the 
knowledge aim or the mental discipline aim. 

Community Life, or Social Efficiency, as an Aim. — 
We ought not to tear down a man's house unless we are 
ready to build him a better. We must not discard the 
aims of education that are already proposed without being 
ready to substitute a larger one. The four aims already 



THE AIM OF EDUCATION 



79 



discussed have been shown to be inadequate, and we 
must establish an aim that shall comprehend all that 
is good in each of the others. The aim of education 
that is here proposed has for its key-word Community 
Life. It corresponds very nearly to Mr. Spencer's defi- 
nition of education, "preparation for complete living." 
That person is well educated who is adjusted in every 
respect to the life of the community in which he lives. 
This implies, in the first place, that he shall be a moral 
individual, for morality is necessary to the continua- 
tion of community life. The individual must of necessity 
possess the moral virtues, and do nothing habitually that 
is anti-social. 

The Development of Society. — Society exists as the 
result of certain actions on the part of the individuals 
who constitute it. In the development of society, cer- 
tain ways of acting and living have been found advan- 
tageous. Those communities have survived that have 
adopted certain customs, while other communities which 
have failed to adopt such advantageous customs have 
perished. In order to preserve society, these advan- 
tageous customs and ways of living have been crystallized 
into institutions. Conformity to these institutions is 
the first requisite of a good citizen. The education of 
an individual must train him to conform to community 
or institutional life. 

Comprehensiveness of Community Life as an Aim 
in Education. — This requires that the individual shall be 
moral, but it demands that, he shall be developed physi- 



80 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

cally and mentally as well. Society demands that the in- 
dividual shall participate in its intellectual life, and that 
he shall contribute to it services that can be given only 
through physical activity. It does not demand that the 
intellectual development shall be that of particular pow- 
ers, for it is the whole individual that is to be developed. 
It does not demand that the training shall be along dif- 
ferent lines from that which the individual will follow 
in his daily life after he leaves school. It recognizes 
that the child should accumulate knowledge, not merely 
for the purpose of using it to develop the intellect, but 
because it enables him to enter into the larger life of the 
community, and to adjust himself to the conditions in 
which he finds himself placed. It is by the accumulation 
of knowledge that the child comes into his race inheri- 
tance. 

The Knowledge Test in Mental Discipline. — The men- 
tal discipline aim of education insists strongly upon the 
uselessness of knowledge in itself, and asserts that it 
has no use except as its acquisition contributes to the 
mental development of the individual. Examination 
upon the facts of knowledge is justified only 
upon the assumption that the acquisition of a certain 
amount of knowledge has been accompanied by a corre- 
sponding increase in mental power. If we estimate, then, 
the amount of knowledge, we may make an estimate of 
the amount of mental power that has been acquired in 
obtaining that knowledge. 

Community Life Includes Mental Discipline. — This 



THE AIM OF EDUCATION 81 

aim of adjustment to community life demands that there 
shall be mental discipline. It recognizes the fact that 
the acquisition of knowledge does result in the gaining 
of power and in the development of the intellect, although 
perhaps not in the way that the advocates of the theory 
of mental discipline assert. The power gained is a power 
to acquire related knowledge more easily, not unrelated 
knowledge. The new knowledge is acquired by means of 
the related knowledge, not by means of abstract mental 
power. It recognizes that mental power may be gained 
just as well, or better, by the acquisition of knowledge 
which can be applied to the purposes of community life, 
as by the acquisition of knowledge that can have no 
such application. It removes completely the contradiction 
between school and society, and brings the school directly 
into harmony with the other institutions of society. This 
is a gain whose value cannot be overestimated. The 
child who goes to school under this conception of edu- 
cation does not go to school to learn something, nor to 
have his mind trained, nor to become a moral being. All 
of these results will follow ; but he goes to school to 
learn how to live and to be of social value in the com- 
munity in which he finds himself placed. 

Changes Necessitated by Community Life as an Aim. 
— Under this conception of the purposes of education, 
we shall change a good deal of our educational practice. 
We shall discard a good deal of the useless and inap- 
plicable subject matter of instruction, and select that 
which has some direct relation to the community life in 



82 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

which we find ourselves immersed. We shall discard 
the cloister and convent idea of education, and make 
school a place where life abounds. We shall recognize 
that school is life, and that only by making it life can 
we teach children how to live. 

Synopsis. 

1. It makes much difference to the pupil what aim 
of education the teacher holds in mind. The aim of 
education that the teacher holds in mind determines the 
subjects that are to be taught and the methods of teach- 
ing, and consequently the effect that is produced upon 
the character of the pupil. 

2. The knowledge aim, the mental discipline aim, 
the moral development aim, while each having some- 
thing of value, are all of them inadequate. 

3. A more comprehensive and more nearly adequate 
aim of education is that of teaching a child to live in 
a community in accordance with the best ideals which 
the community represents. 



CHAPTER VI. 
The Argument for the Common School. 

Necessity for Knowing the Argument. — It would seem 
as if an apology were necessary for presenting an argu- 
ment for the public school, because it is the one institu- 
tion that is particularly dear to the hearts of the Ameri- 
can people. But there may come a time when the ene- 
mies of the public school will challenge its right to exist, 
and every one who is interested in the welfare of the 
country ought to know the reasons that called it into 
existence, and that justify its maintenance. Teachers 
in the public schools ought especially to be acquainted 
with the principles that underlie its establishment; yet 
it is true that not many teachers would be willing to risk 
the existence of the public school upon the validity and 
cogency of the argument which they might be able to 
make. 

Two Kinds of Schools. — There are in the public 
schools of the United States today about 16 million 
children, while in other schools, mostly private and paro- 
chial, there are about a million and a half. This fact in- 
dicates that there is a question with two sides, both of 
which must be considered. 

What is a Common School? — The public school is 
common because it is designed for every class of chil- 
dren in the country. It is" not common in the sense of 

83 



84 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

being poor or inefficient, or ordinary or "ornery." It 
is called free because no tuition is charged for attending 
it. Every child has the right to attend, and to receive 
the benefits of instruction without the payment of tui- 
tion. It is public in the sense that it is supported by 
public taxation and is controlled by the state, or the 
community in which it is placed. 

Two Forms of the Argument. — The argument for 
the common school takes two forms. One is an argu- 
ment for education in general, which does not apply to 
the public school more than to other educational insti- 
tutions, until it can be shown that there is no other 
agency than the state which can make education uni- 
versal. 

Education Necessary in a Free Government. — The 
first proposition is that education and a high order of 
intelligence is necessary in a republican form of govern- 
ment. The liberties of the people cannot be preserved 
unless there is a high average of intelligence. In a 
republican form of government, the representatives, who 
are directly responsible to the people, make the laws. 
Good laws are not likely to be made, unless the people are 
so intelligent that they may hold their representatives 
responsible for the laws which they make. In a despotic 
government, it is not the safest thing for the government 
that the people shall be educated and intelligent; but 
in a free government, the preservation of liberty de- 
mands the highest possible intelligence. 

Education and Slavery. — On the other hand, it is 



THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 85 

impossible to enslave a people, and take away their lib- 
erties, when there is a high average of intelligence. In 
the slavery days, many of the southern states made it 
a criminal offense to teach a negro slave to read and 
write. They recognized, the fact that when a negro did 
learn to read and write he became impatient of his 
slave condition and immediately tried to escape from 
slavery. This is a good illustration of the difficulty ex- 
perienced in trying to enslave a people who are educated 
and intelligent. 

Education and Morality. — The second argument is 
that education makes the people moral. Morality is 
necessary in the preservation of the community. We 
have recognized the necessity for morality in our defi- 
nition of education. We have said that education changes 
the individual from a self-centered being to a social 
being. Hence by our very definition of education it 
must conduce to morality. An immoral person is an anti- 
social being, and has not learned to live with other 
persons in conformity to the institutions of society. It 
is in school that children learn to live together, and 
thus inevitably education tends to produce morality. 

Education and Crime. — Prison statistics show that in 
proportion to their numbers the illiterate members of 
the community furnish eight times as many criminals 
as do the educated classes. It is true that some crimes, 
such as forgery and counterfeiting are impossible for 
illiterate criminals ; but this fact can scarcely be urged 
as an argument for ignorance. 



86 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

The Standard of Education. — Prison statistics from 
which the above statements are derived, draw the distinc- 
tion between educated and uneducated at the ability to 
read and write. In a country where the knowledge of 
reading and writing is so easily obtained as it is here, 
where the very atmosphere in which a person lives leads 
him to learn to read and write, a knowledge of reading 
and writing is a very unsatisfactory standard of educa- 
tion. If we were to establish a more adequate standard 
for illiteracy, the prison statistics would, without any 
doubt, be very much more emphatic than they are now 
in demonstrating that education conduces to morality. 

Educated Criminals. — There is every probability that 
the person who has attended school and still remains a 
criminal would have been a criminal without attending 
school, although his criminality might have taken a dif- 
ferent form. No one will charge that his criminality is 
the result of his school experience ; the most that can be 
urged is that the school did not develop him beyond the 
point of criminality. It is doubtful if education can 
completely overcome bad heredity, or if a person born 
with little tendency to develop, can ever be developed 
beyond the point of criminality. There are such beings 
as recidivists, or born criminals ; but that the atmosphere 
of school is conducive to morality and favors moral de- 
velopment cannot be seriously questioned. 

Morality and Religion. — It is sometimes asserted that 
children cannot be made moral by education that is not 
distinctly religious in character. It is true that nearly 



THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 87 

all moral individuals are religious and that nearly all 
religious persons are moral. But there are some persons 
who are profoundly religious but not moral, and there 
are some persons who are profoundly moral but not re- 
ligious. The fact that there are such persons shows 
that religion and morality are not identical. In fact, it 
can be shown that the religious and the moral sentiments 
are not identical, but spring from quite different origins. 

Education and Pauperism. — The third argument is 
that education tends to prevent pauperism. In our defi- 
nition we have said that education changes an individual 
from a dependent to an independent being. No person 
is independent who cannot make a living. Education 
opens many ways for an individual to employ his pow- 
ers. An examination of poorhouses will, without any 
doubt, show that the degree of education and intelligence 
among the inmates is low. This argument is more par- 
ticularly valid if the education is that which is based 
upon the idea of industrial efficiency. Leisure class edu- 
cation is much less effective in promoting independence. 
The public schools are, in nearly all parts of the country, 
based primarily upon the idea of industrial ef- 
ficiency, while the private and parochial schools are es- 
tablished upon a different basis. There is however, nearly 
everywhere an opportunity for much greater emphasis 
than is now given, even in the public schools, to the 
idea of industrial efficiency. 

Validity of these Arguments. — These three argu- 
ments are for education in general rather than for the 



88 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

free public school. Let us leave the demonstration of the 
fact that only state schools can bring about universality 
of education until we discuss the special advantages of 
the public school over the other kinds of schools. 

Argument From Homogeneity. — The first advantage 
of the public schools over other kinds of schools is that 
they tend to make the people of the country homogen- 
eous. Diversity of interests and habits of thought is 
a source of most dangerous weakness to a country. In- 
stead of being a source of strength, numbers constitute 
a source of weakness unless the people are homogen- 
eous in their interests and ideals. The Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy is very weak from this cause. Under one 
government, people differing widely in race, language, 
ideals and habits of thought, a revolution is immanent 
in Austro-Hungary at any time. 

Heterogeneity of the People of the United States. — 
There is no other country in which this problem of 
diversity of race and people is so tremendously impor- 
tant as it is in the United States. The origin of our 
nation is essentially Anglo-Saxon. The first settlers 
were Englishmen. The English Pilgrims, who spoke 
the English language and who entertained English ideas 
of political liberties, settled in Massachusetts. They 
were followed by the Puritans, who could not live at 
home in consequence of their religious non-conformity 
views. They sought a place iii the New World where 
they could worship God in their own way and make 
everybody else do the same. They persecuted the Ouak- 



THE ARGUMENT EOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 89 

ers, showing that their ideas of religious liberty were 
very rudimentary. 

In Virginia settled another group of Englishmen, 
holding the English ideals of political liberty, such as trial 
by jury, and conforming to the religion of the established 
church. Between the two, in Maryland, was established 
a colony of English Catholics, who had been persecuted 
at home, but they, too, maintained the ideas of English 
political liberty. In Carolina and Georgia were other 
Englishmen. In Pennsylvania settled a colony of Eng- 
lish Quakers, whose motive in seeking the New World 
was to escape religious persecution. They, however, 
maintained the doctrines of English political liberty. 
Also there were Swedes in Delaware and Dutch in New 
York, furnishing a heterogeneous element, although not 
exercising a determining influence upon the character of 
the country in the beginning. The predominant influ- 
ence in regard to political institutions was English. In 
religious matters they could not agree, hence it came 
about that when they were compelled to work together 
by the exigencies of the Revolutionary war, they agreed 
upon the English language and English political insti- 
tutions, but were compelled to adopt the principle of 
religious liberty, and the absolute separation of church 
and state. 

Heterogeneous Elements in Immigration. — Immigra- 
tion began soon to figure in the population of the coun- 
try. The earliest influx of immigrants was from Eng- 
land. These constituted no new element in the country, 



90 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

but harmonized with the population already here. About 
1830, or a few years before, began the great Irish im- 
migration which lasted for more than twenty years. 
The Irish and the English were not well adjusted in 
their native countries, and it is scarcely likely that they 
would harmonize without modification in this. About 
1850 the German immigration began, and continued for 
twenty years. The German is not less tenacious of his 
own ideas than is either the Englishman or the Irish- 
man; so without adjustment and modification there is 
not much probability that three such diverse nationali- 
ties will work together in a common cause. About 1870 
the immigration from the Scandinavian countries be- 
came a characteristic feature and introduced a new ele- 
ment into the population of the country. Since 1890 
the immigration has been greater than ever before, and 
has come largely from Italy and the other countries of 
southern Europe. A very large number of Russian Jews 
have introduced an element heretofore lacking in the 
population of the country. There is scarcely a country 
in the world that has not contributed to the popu- 
lation of the United States. In the larger cities, the 
tendency is for these different nationalities to segregate 
and to remain true to the language, traditions, and ideals 
of their native country. 

The Real Danger in Immigration. — This is the real 
danger from immigration. Instead of having a large 
number of people, all Americans, there is danger that 
we shall have a large number of different nationalities 



THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 91 

with a very loose bond of union, thus engendering great 
weakness. More than a million immigrants are arriving 
each year. Unless the country can transform these peo- 
ple into Americans with American traditions and notions 
of government, and speaking a common language, it is 
impossible to hope for the perpetuation of the govern- 
ment or its progression along the line in which it has 
started. 

Common ScJwols the Most Efficient Agency in Pro- 
moting Homogeneity. — There is no other agency than 
the public school that can harmonize so effectively these 
diverse interests, and make Americans of the children 
of the immigrants. Other schools cannot do it, because 
other schools are founded upon other ideas, and delimited 
by other lines of demarcation than the fact of belonging 
to one common country. Church schools attract only the 
children of families who belong to that one church. 
Often, too, these church schools teach the children in 
a language other than English. Private schools fre- 
quently mark off the children of the rich from the chil- 
dren of the poor. In the public school, the children 
learn to live together, to know each other, and to give 
to each others' opinions the same respect that they de- 
mand for their own. They learn to speak a common 
language, the principal bond and source of strength 
among the people of a country. 

What is Meant by- Homogeneity. — It is not meant 
by being homogeneous, that the people shall all come to 
have the same political and religious opinions. The 



92 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

public school does not undertake to coerce the opinions 
of any child. In fact, it is sometimes urged against 
the public school that in it the children are allowed too 
much freedom of opinion. The history is not interpreted 
for them, but the children are allowed to interpret it for 
themselves. Instead of this fact being a weakness in 
the public school, it is the cardinal glory of its consti- 
tution. It permits each child to interpret the facts for 
himself ; but it teaches children to live together and to 
respect the rights of others. 

Other Schools Not Productive of Homogeneity. — In 
schools patronized by wealthy parents the wealthy chil- 
dren may learn to live with wealthy children, but they 
learn little about respecting the rights and opinions of 
the people who are not wealthy. Such schools are a 
source of weakness instead of strength to a country. 
The same thing is true of parochial schools, in which 
children of only one religious faith are gathered to- 
gether. They are not likely to learn to live in harmony 
with people of another faith, but the natural tendency 
is to become intolerant and to disregard the rights and 
opinions of others. 

Godless Schools. — Let us look at some of the objec- 
tions that are raised to the public schools. The first 
objection is that they are godless schools. By this is 
meant that there is no religious instruction given in the 
schools, but it does not mean that they are ungodly or 
immoral, or incapable of producing the proper kind of 
moral training. Let us see how the schools became god- 
less. 



THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 93 

The prototype of the public schools was the New Eng- 
land district school. These schools were organized by 
the church and closely affiliated with it. Much religious 
instruction was given in them. When these schools were 
reorganized upon the present basis by Horace Alann, the 
religious feature was still retained. But now came a 
protest from different religious bodies, that the teaching 
was not in conformity with the views which they held, and 
they could not subject their children to religious instruc- 
tion opposed to the faith of their parents. Perhaps the 
protests of the Roman Catholic priesthood were the 
most effective. They objected to the reading of the 
King James version of the bible instead of the Douay 
bible. Then it came to be recognized that there was an 
inconsistency in requiring Jewish children to participate 
in the exercises of the Christian religion, and in readings 
from the New Testament. Besides this, there was a 
protest from the people who were called infidels and 
atheists, who objected to any form of religious instruc- 
tion, and desired a kind of teaching directly contradictory 
to the teachings of religion. In order to remove all 
cause for dissension, all religious instruction was grad- 
ually dropped from public school teaching. But no 
sooner had this result been obtained than the same per- 
sons who had protested against religious teaching in the 
public schools now said that the schools were godless 
and refused to commend them. 

Education the Business of the Parent. — The second 
objection is that education is the business of the parent 



94 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

and not the business of the state. This objection would 
be valid if it were the parent that is to be educated, and 
if it were invariably the case that the parent would pro- 
tect the rights of the child. But there are two other 
parties to be considered besides the parent. One is the 
child, whose rights the state must safeguard even against 
the parent. The parent may be one who does not be- 
lieve in education, and may let the child grow up in 
ignorance, as many parents are willing to do. When the 
child becomes a man, his opportunity for education is 
gone and cannot be restored. He has been deprived of 
his inheritance in the stores of knowledge accumulated 
by the race. Hence it is necessary that the state shall 
protect the rights of the child to an education, just as 
it is necessary that it shall protect his right to live. 

The Business of the State. — The third party to the 
transaction is the state itself. When the child has grown 
to manhood, the parent is released from all his obliga- 
tions to him, and the state must accept him as a citizen. 
The state cannot refuse to receive him, whether he is ig- 
norant or learned, vicious or virtuous, inefficient and 
pauper, or self-helpful and independent, criminal or not. 
Hence it is the duty and the part of wisdom for the 
state to exercise some supervision over the education 
and character of its future citizens. 

Education the Business of the Church. — The third ob- 
jection is that education is the business of the church. 
The fundamental doctrine of this country is that there 
shall be an absolute separation of the church from the 



THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 95 

state. Although all may agree upon the validity of this 
principle, there is difficulty when we come to make ap- 
plication of it. The state assumes that marriage is a 
private contract and provides that the sanction of law 
must be secured. It provides for the issuance of a 
license and its proper return and certification before 
the marriage shall be legal. But the church assumes it 
has jurisdiction over the institution of marriage, although 
such contention was not made before the eleventh cen- 
tury. There is a compromise by which the state accepts 
the certification of the legal papers by the accredited 
officers of the church. 

The same situation prevails in the matter of educa- 
tion. The state assumes that secular, but not religious, 
education is the business of the state. It has not for- 
bidden to the church the matter of secular education, 
but it has acknowledged that religious education is not 
state business. It seems as if we have here the proper 
place to draw the line between the business of the church 
in education and the state. Is education the business 
of the church? Yes, religious education, and the church 
might well confine its efforts to that field. Is education 
the business of the state? Yes, secular education, and 
the state would better guard its prerogatives rather care- 
fully. 

Division of the School Fund. — The idea that educa- 
tion is the business of the church usually takes the form 
of a demand for a division of the school fund. The 
argument is a specious one, but its fallacy is easily seen. 



96 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

The argument runs about as follows : In a certain city, 
or district, the church organizations maintain parochial 
schools in which are educated sixty thousand children, 
or one-fifth of all the children who are educated in the 
city. The state accepts the education given in these 
schools as equivalent to the education that would other- 
wise be given in the public schools. The state is re- 
lieved from the necessity of educating the sixty thou- 
sand children, and therefore needs to expend a smaller 
amount of money than it otherwise would do. The pa- 
rochial schools represent a distinct saving to the city 
or district. It is no more than just that the city should 
reimburse the parochial schools for the money which 
they expend in educating the children, up to the amount 
which the parochial schools save the city. 

Effect of Such Division. — Let us see what would 
happen if this claim were allowed. If this demand were 
granted to one denomination for one kind of a school, 
it could not be refused to another for another kind of 
a school. As soon as the principles were allowed, every 
denomination could make its claim, and the entire school 
fund would be dissipated. The state would then be in 
the position of levying taxes and distributing funds to 
the church to be employed by the church in ways over 
which the state had no jurisdiction. The school fund 
so raised would be employed largely for the purpose 
of teaching religion, which is not the business of the 
state. It would have no control over the money 
so expended, and the state is not justified in raising 



THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 97 

money to be expended in ways over which it has no 
control. 

Double Taxation. — There is another objection, that 
persons who support private schools are doubly taxed. 
This argument might have some weight if the children 
of those parents who support the private schools were 
refused admission to the public schools, but such is not 
the case. They are invited and urged to attend the 
public schools, but refuse to do so. It is even a con- 
cession on the part of the state to permit children to 
be educated in schools over which it has no control, and 
not even the right of inspection. If it should ever be 
shown that any schools were teaching doctrines inimical 
to the government, no one could question the right of 
the state to assume control of such schools or even close 
them up. It is perfectly possible that an exigency might 
arise making it necessary to compel attendance upon 
the state schools, or to put private schools under public 
inspection. 

Universal Education Possible Only by the State. — 
The church has never been able to bring about universal 
education, even in those countries where it has been 
most influential. Only in those countries in which the 
state has taken upon itself the duty of providing schools 
has education become anything like universal. It is this 
fact that gives point to the three arguments for universal 
education. These become valid arguments for the pub- 
lic school as soon as it is recognized that public schools, 
or state schools are the only agents by which education 
mav be made universal. 



98 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Taxing One Man to Educate Another Man's Chil- 
dren. — Another objection made with less frequency than 
formerly is that it is not equitable to tax one man to 
educate another man's children. There would be some 
justice in this contention if the taxes taken were ex- 
pended for the peculiar benefit of the other man, or even 
for the other man's children. The tax is levied and 
collected and expended for the benefit of the state. It 
benefits the state by reducing the crime and pauperism 
that otherwise must burden the state. It would be just 
as easy to sustain the objection that it is inequitable to 
tax one man for the support of the police department 
to protect his neighbor's property from thieves and rob- 
bers ; or to raise taxes for the support of the fire de- 
partment to keep a neighbor's house from burning 
down. 

Education a Profitable Investment of Money. — It re- 
mains merely to show that money invested in education 
brings a larger return to the community as a whole 
than does money invested in any other way. This dem- 
onstration is made in Chapter V. Our conclusion is 
that the free common public school is fully justified by 
reason and by results. The very worst that can be 
said about it is said. There is no other school in the 
world that dares to expose to public inspection its in- 
most workings, both in its moral results and in its teach- 
ing practices. The public school does so, and it is this 
fact that gives the people confidence in it. 



the argument for the common school 99 

Synopsis. 

1. The argument for the common school takes two 
forms. One is for education in general, which applies 
to all forms of schools. This is an argument for the 
common school when it is shown that state education 
is the only means by which education can become uni- 
versal. The other argument applies to the public school 
directly. 

2. In a republican government, universal education 
and a high degree of intelligence is necessary in order 
to maintain the rights of the people. Education strength- 
ens the country by decreasing crime and pauperism. 

3. Public school education renders the people homo- 
geneous in their ideals and language, and strengthens 
the nation. 

4. The objections to the public schools, that educa- 
tion is the business of the church, that it is the business 
of the parent, that the schools are godless, that parents 
who send their children to private schools are doubly 
taxed, that it is wrong to tax one man to educate an- 
other man's children are invalid objections. 

5. State education is the only process by which edu- 
cation may be made universal. 



CHAPTER VII. 
Periods in Child Development. 

The Culture Epoch Theory. — The Culture Epoch 
theory assumes that there is a parallel between the men- 
tal development of the individual and that of the race. 
Using this as a basis, the attempt is made to construct 
a really scientific course of study, determining the 
particular subject that shall be taught by the stage of 
development in which the child may be at any specified 
time. If the child repeats in his mental development the 
development of the race, the exercises which a child 
undertakes at any time should be those which correspond 
to the occupations of the race when the people were in 
the stage of development corresponding to that in 
which the child is at the time. 

The Biogenetic Law. — In order to understand the 
culture epoch theory, we shall need to understand in the 
first place, the biogenetic law, or Von Baer's principle, 
from which the culture epoch theory is derived. 

The Taxonomic Series. — If we examine all the ani- 
mals that now live upon the earth and arrange them in 
a series according to their various degrees of complexity, 
we shall start with a protozoan, such as an amoeba, 
and we shall conclude our series with a mammal, such 

100 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 101 

man. We can readily distinguish five or more great 
groups. The simplest animals that are now living are 
one-celled animals, of which an amoeba is a good ex- 
ample. While an amoeba, consisting of a single animal 
cell, is a very complex organism, it is not nearly so com- 
plex as is an animal whose body is composed of many 
cells. 

The next group of animals, in order of complexity, 
is the group of invertebrates. There are many degrees 
of complexity among invertebrates, but we may group 
them all together, and consider a worm as a type of the 
whole group. 

The third order of complexity will be represented 
by a vertebrate, but that kind of vertebrate which we 
know as a fish. A fish has a two-chambered heart, 
breathes by gills, the blood is sent forward to the gills 
by a single aorta, and ^n other respects it is not so com- 
plex as are other kinds of vertebrates. 

The fourth member of our series will be the group of 
reptiles which may be represented by a turtle. This 
group is more complex than the fish, having a three- 
chambered heart, breathes by lungs, and has other char- 
acteristics which manifest greater complexity. 

The fifth member of our series will be represented by 
a rabbit, or some other mammal, which has a four- 
chambered heart, warm blood, and other characters in- 
dicative of a great complexity and a high order of de- 
velopment. This series of animals now stands : 

1 One-celled animal, 2 Invertebrate, 3 Fish, 4 Reptile, 5 
Mammal. 



102 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

This series represents animals now living, arranged 
according to the order of their complexity, and is called 
the zoologic, or taxonomic series. 

The Phylogenetic Series. — The second series is a 
series of animals, arranged, not according to their com- 
plexity, but according to a totally different character- 
istic; namely, the order in which they began to exist 
upon the earth. The first animals that appeared upon the 
earth were, without any doubt, one-celled animals. The 
evidence of the particular kind is not very definite, for 
only a few of the Protozoa have any hard parts that 
are at all likely to be preserved throughout geological 
changes, and the time when they first appeared was so 
very long ago that even if they had been much better 
adapted for preservation than they are, most of their 
structures must have disappeared. But in the time in 
which the rocks that are called Archean were formed, 
there was, in all probability, no other animals than Pro- 
tozoa living. 

Age of Invertebrates. — Then there came a time when 
animals of more than one cell began to live. These 
earliest animals of many cells were all invertebrates, 
and at that time only protozoa and invertebrate animals 
were living. These invertebrates may be typified by a 
worm, for many of them were worms, and many kinds, 
such as Brachiopods, had shells which have been pre- 
served. The long series of years known as the Silurian 
period is called the age of Invertebrates. 

Age of Fishes. — Then there came a time when Ver- 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 103 

tebrates constituted the most important feature in the 
life of the earth. The first vertebrates were fishes. The 
Age of Fishes is the period in which the rocks called 
the Devonian were formed. The fishes were numerous, 
and surpassed in activity and general complexity any of 
the invertebrates that lived at the same time. 

Age of Reptiles. — After the Age of Fishes there 
came an Age of Reptiles, which represented a higher 
form of animal life. The Age of Reptiles is the time 
in which the rocks of the Mesozoic age were produced. 
Mesozoic time is sometimes divided into three periods 
and the rocks that correspond to the three periods are 
called the Triassic, Jurassic and the Cretaceous. Reptiles 
furnished the dominant form of animal life in this age. 
Fishes existed, of course, but the reptiles far surpassed 
them in complexity and degree of development. There 
were many reptiles that do not exist now. We have 
living only four orders of reptiles, represented by the 
snake, turtle, lizard, and alligator; but in the Age of 
Reptiles there were at least ten orders represented, and 
some of them were among the largest animals that ever 
existed. There were reptiles in the water, such as 
the Ichthyosaur and the Plesiosaur; there were reptiles 
on the land, such as the Dinosaur ; and there were flying 
reptiles, such as Pterodactyls of many kinds. 

Age of Mammals. — After the Age of Reptiles came 
the Tertiary period, which is the Age of Mammals. 
Mammals now took the place in the life of the earth 
that had been held by reptiles. Many kinds of mammals 



104 PRINCIPLES OP TEACHING 

lived then that no longer exist. Some forms were very 
large, larger than any animals now living except the 
whales. 

If we arrange these animals in a series according 
to the order in which they have appeared upon the 
earth, we shall have the following arrangement : 

1 Protozoa (single-celled animals), 2 Invertebrates (worms), 
3 Fishes, 4 Reptiles, 5 Mammals. 

This is called the phylogenetic, or geologic series. 

The Ontogenetic Series. — Let us now look at the 
series of changes that occur in the development of a 
single mammal. If we watch the development of a 
rabbit we find that it begins as an egg, which is a single 
animal cell, and is comparable in complexity with an 
amoeba, or other protozoan. The single animal cell di- 
vides into two, and the two into four, until finally there 
are many cells. Then the many cells arrange them- 
selves into layers, called the ectoderm and the endo- 
derm, and the animal has a central body cavity. In this 
condition it represents a degree of complexity that is 
manifested by a worm, and no one could predict, without 
knowing the animal by which the egg had been produced, 
that it would ever become anything else than a worm. 
At this period of its existence it has no characteristics 
except those that belong to invertebrates. 

The Final Step. — But it does not stop here. Verte- 
brate characters begin to appear. A backbone and spinal 
cord make themselves apparent, but the vertebrate char- 
acters are at first essentially those of a fish type. The 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 105 

heart, when it is first formed is two-chambered, the 
blood is sent forward to gill arches, and in all essential 
respects the animal is a fish. Afterward the heart be- 
comes three-chambered, the gill arches disappear, the 
blood goes to the lungs, and the embryo takes on the 
characters of a reptile. After the animal passes through 
the stage when it is a reptile, the heart becomes four- 
chambered, two occiptical condyles are formed, and the 
other characters which constitute a mammal are de- 
veloped. If we arrange these different stages of the 
animal in the order in which they appear, we shall have 
the following: 

1 Egg (single animal cell), 2 Invertebrate (worm), 3 Fish. 
4 Reptile, 5 Mammal. 

This series is called the ontogenetic, or embryologic 
series. It is a series of stages in the development of a 
single animal. If we examine these three series we see 
that they have exactly the same stages occurring in 
the same order. In each we can readily distinguish five 
stages, and we might have recognized many more than 
five. 

Harmony of the Three Series. — How are we to ac- 
count for the close similarity of these three series, since 
they are derived from totally different data? One is a 
series of animals living at the present time arranged 
according to their degrees of complexity. Another is 
a series of animals arranged, not according to their com- 
plexity, but according to the order of their appearance 
upon the earth. The third is a series of stages occurring 



106 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

in the development of a single animal. The only reason- 
able explanation seems to be that the embryo passes 
through the stages that it does, from the simple to the 
complex, because the ancestors of the race to which it 
belongs were developed gradually in the long geologic 
ages through the same several stages, and that the single 
animal in the course of its development recapitulates the 
history of the development of the race. This last state- 
ment is known as Von Baer's principle, or the biogenetic 
law. 

Ziller's Theory. — Ziller undertook to demonstrate the 
same or a corresponding principle with reference to the 
mental life of the human race. He undertook to show 
that the mental life of an individual recapitulates the 
mental development of the race. Then he undertook to 
show that we might make a scientific course of study 
from this fact, and adjust the various phases of instruc- 
tion to the particular stage of development in which the 
child might be at any particular time. If we could base 
our course of study upon some general principle by 
means of which we might determine what things are 
proper and what are improper subjects of instruction in 
the education of children, it would be a great improve- 
ment over anything that has yet been done in educa- 
tion. 

The Pre-human Period. — Anthropologists are fairly 
well agreed that we can discover at least eight stages 
in the development of the human race. The determina- 
tion of the stages here adopted is taken from Lewis H, 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 



107 



Morgan. The first stage that we need to recognize is 
the pre-human stage, in which the human race or its 
ancestors had not developed articulate speech. Probably 
in this pre-human period, the ancestors of men lived 
in trees, ate roots and buds and vegetables, as well as 
worms and other small animals that they could pick 
up. There were no companies of these pre-human an- 
cestors. Life was altogether individual. This period 
terminates with the adoption of articulate speech as 
a means of communication. 

The little child is in this condition, corresponding to 
the pre-human period, up to the time when he begins to 
utter his first words. He recapitulates in the first nine 
or ten months of his life this whole period of pre-human 
ancestry, which is farther removed and vastly longer than 
any period of human history than has occurred since 
that time. 

Older Savagery. — The first human stage is called by 
Mr. Morgan, the period of Older Savagery. It begins 
with the adoption of articulate speech as a means of 
communication, and terminates with the employment of 
fire and the use of fish as an article of food. The older 
savages still lived in trees, wandering little from the 
place in which they were born, and subsisted on the 
same kind of food as did their pre-human ancestors. 
The adoption of articulate speech greatly favored the 
development of mental life, and this is perhaps the most 
important fact in all of human history. 

The Child as an Older Savage. — The little child enters 



108 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

upon the stage of his development corresponding to the 
older savagery when he begins to utter his first words. 
It corresponds to the time extending from ten months 
old to that of a year and a half or two years of age. This 
period of development probably lasted from twenty to 
thirty thousand years, and the child recapitulates in his 
development the entire history of the race for that period 
in a year or fifteen months. The child in this period 
of his existence is active, enjoys the sensations of taste 
and of muscular activity, and uses his vocal organs much. 
It is the time in which he is learning to talk and in which 
his mental processes develop more rapidly than in any- 
subsequent period. 

Middle Savagery. — The third stage in the development 
of the race is the period of middle savagery. This period 
begins with the adoption of fish as an article of food, and 
the use of fire, and terminates with the invention of the 
bow and arrow. In this period men descended from the 
trees and ceased to be tree-dwellers. They found it 
advantageous to live near the seashore and along the 
banks of rivers. Hence it is evident that they acquired 
the habit of wandering more widely than had been the 
custom before, and also it is probable that they began to 
live in caves, by which they were protected from the at- 
tacks of wild beasts, and the great carnivorous animals, 
which were their principal enemies. 

The Child as a Middle Savage. — The little child ap- 
pears to be in the stage of development corresponding to 
the period of middle savagery in the years from two to 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 109 

four or five. In this period the interests of a child lead 
him to wander. He becomes a truant, running away from 
his mother, and a period of early truancy is rather well 
marked. He likes to throw things, and he suddenly be- 
comes afraid of the dark, and of fur bearing animals, 
owls and other large birds. 

Later Savagery. — The fourth period is that of the 
later savagery, which begins with the invention of the 
bow and arrow, and terminates with the invention of 
pottery. In this period man became essentially a hunter 
and wandered widely from home. He was no longer 
on the defensive in protecting himself from wild animals, 
but assumed an aggressive attitude toward animal life. 
The woman stayed at home, and we have the beginnings 
of the social differentiation of the sexes. Man was the 
hunter, woman became the home maker. This is the 
age also in which man began to inquire into the origin of 
things, and the result is the development of myth and 
fable. 

The Bozu and Arrow. — It ought to be noticed here 
that the bow and arrow has been invented only once, 
and the knowledge of its use was carried into all coun- 
tries where it is now found by the people as they mi- 
grated from the original home of the race. Some people, 
such as the Australians, never invented the bow 
and arrow, and had no knowledge of its use. They 
invented the boomerang, which served the same purpose, 
but it was not the bow and arrow. The belief is that the 
Australian ancestors separated from the rest of the human 



110 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

race before the bow and arrow was invented. The use 
of the bow and arrow is found all over Europe and Asia, 
over nearly all of Africa, and over both the 
Americas. 

The Child as a Later Savage. — The period of child 
development which corresponds to the later savagery 
includes the earliest years of school life, from the age of 
five and a half or six, to six and a half or seven. Boys 
like to throw things and to play with bows and arrows 
or popguns. Hunting games and competitive plays begin 
to be enjoyed. A differentiation can be observed between 
the plays that are enjoyed most by boys and by girls. 
Girls begin to enjoy the imitative plays which corres- 
pond to domestic affairs. All children of this age are 
fond of fairy tales, and this fact furnishes justification 
for laying out a course of study that shall include for 
these earliest school years fairy tales, the myths of Greece, 
the Norse legends, and Mother Goose. 

Older Barbarism. — The fifth period is the period of 
older barbarism. It begins with the invention of pottery 
and ends with the cultivation of plants and the domestica- 
tion of animals. In this stage, man was the hunter and 
became the warrior. The beginning of social institutions 
is to be looked for here, in the fact of warfare and the 
consequent necessity for men to work together and to 
render mutual assistance, although social life did not 
reach its most characteristic form until the next period. 
Woman was the home maker, and her duties were limited 
to those of domestic life. It is .probable that pottery was 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 111 

the invention of woman, and that she first cultivated 
plants and developed agriculture. 

The Child as an Older Barbarian. — The years of a 
child's life that correspond to this period of older bar- 
barism are the years from six and a half or seven, to 
about eight or eight and a half. The child begins to need 
the companionship of others in his plays. He likes to 
dig in the ground and to play with plastic materials. Mud 
pies and models of animal forms are attractive occupa- 
tions for him. He is on his way to becoming socialized. 
Mimic wars and stories of adventure appeal to him. There 
is a well pronounced differentiation between the plays 
that interest girls and those in which boys find delight. 

Middle Barbarism. — The sixth period is that of middle 
barbarism. It begins with the domestication of animals 
and the cultivation of plants, and ends with the smelt- 
ing of iron. In this period men ceased to wander so 
widely as heretofore. The cultivation of plants enabled 
a larger number of people to subsist in one place, thus 
rendering it possible for a complex society to be devel- 
oped, and the cultivation of the fields tended to prevent 
frequent removals. Warfare became a more serious oc- 
cupation, and by the necessity for cooperation in the de- 
fense of the community, tended ■ to increase the social 
feelings and to develop the tribal and community life. 

The Child as a Middle Barbarian. — The years of a 
child's life that correspond to the period of middle bar- 
barism are approximately from the age of eight or eight 
and a half to eleven. The child is contentious and likes 



112 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

to quarrel. He has a fondness for domestic animals as 
pets, and school gardens may profitably be included in 
the course of study. The boy likes to hunt and fish. 
Sociology becomes a prominent part of the child's in- 
terest. The child needs in this period of his existence to 
be taught concerning the fire department, the police, and 
the various social services which the community renders 
to him as an individual. 

Later Barbarism. — The seventh period is the period 
of later barbarism. It begins with the smelting of iron 
and terminates with the invention of the written, phonetic 
alphabet. It is especially characterized by the develop- 
ment of manufactures and the growth of cities. Here we 
perceive also the beginnings of national life, and the 
development of literature in the form of folk tales and 
histories of national heroes. 

The Child as a Later Barbarian. — The years of a 
child's life that correspond to this period of later bar- 
barism are those from about eleven until thirteen or 
fourteen. In this period the child has much interest in 
making things, and in the stories of industry. In the 
period of later barbarism there was little commerce ; as we 
should expect, then, the child in his corresponding years 
feels little interest in commercial ventures. Problems in 
arithmetic with a commercial expression have little at- 
traction for him. His games are still competitive and 
fighting games, and this also we should expect, since wars 
constituted a large part of the life of the race. The 
child is, however, becoming more nearly socialized, and 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 113 

depends more upon the cooperation of his companions in 
his plays. 

Civilization. — The eighth period is a period of civilized 
life, and begins with the invention of the written alphabet. 
It is characterized by the great and sudden development 
or intellect, of national life and of commerce. The years 
of a child's life that correspond to it are those approxi- 
mately from twelve or fourteen onward. The child is 
now ready to understand the life of the race and to 
participate in its activities. 

Weakness of the Theory. — Such is, in brief, a sketch 
of the Culture Epoch theory. In its largest outlines, there 
can be little doubt of its truth. It is impossible to under- 
stand child nature and to interpret the interests and 
activities of children without a recognition of the facts 
here enunciated. However, as a practical basis for 
making a course of study and for determining what shall 
be the school activities of children, it seems to have little 
value. The attempt to make a course of study from a 
consideration of the facts enumerated above leads us 
into several manifest absurdities. For example, the 
period of later barbarism terminates with the invention 
of the alphabet. The period of child life that corres- 
ponds to this period is the time just preceding adolescence, 
when the child is from twelve to fourteen years old. In 
order to be consistent in making our course of study, we 
should not teach a child to read until he has arrived at 
this period of life. But we do teach him to read much 
sooner, and we believe it would be unwise not to do so. 



114 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

The Earliest Educative Materials. — It is a favorite 
assumption of the advocates of the Culture Epoch theory 
that the earliest experiences of a child in undertaking a 
particular subject should be in the same range of activi- 
ties and with the same materials that primitive men em- 
ployed. In beginning the experience of weaving, he 
should be taught to weave with bark or reeds. In using 
tools, the first tools employed should be pebbles and shells, 
because these are the first implements that primitive man 
employed. In the development of water craft, the child 
should be taught to make a raft and to fasten together the 
logs of which it is composed with withes, because primi- 
tive man did so. 

Why. Primitive Man Used Primitive Materials. — It 
rather seems that primitive man employed these materials 
because he had no better. If he had had yarn or cotton 
thread it is not at all likely that he would have used bark 
and reeds as weaving materials. So if he had had axes 
and nails it is not at all probable that he would have used 
withes to fasten the logs of his raft together. It is not 
that he was lacking in intellectual capacity to use such 
materials, but such materials had not as yet been dis- 
covered, nor the way to manufacture them been found 
out. The materials and processes were not adjusted to 
the degree of mental advancement, but knowledge was 
lacking. The person who invented the bow and arrow, or 
who invented weaving was not deficient in intellect. It is 
doubtful if any invention of modern civilized man is a 
mark of greater intellectual capacity than was the in- 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 115 

vention of the bow and arrow, flint arrow-heads, or the 
phonetic alphabet. 

Primitive Man Not Deficient in Intellect. — When we 
consider that there were no antecedent discoveries related 
to these things, we shall see that mental power was not 
lacking. We may recognize that modern men are superior 
to primitive men mostly, if not altogether, in consequence 
of their greater knowledge. Put a modern man into the 
situation of a primitive man and it is doubtful if the 
genius of an Edison would not be helpless in presence 
of the difficulties confronting him. The actual processes 
carried out by so-called savages of the present day are 
sufficient to arouse the wonder of any man. If primitive 
man had had modern tools, it is extremely probable that 
he would have been able to use them. 

A More Fundamental Objection. — But a more funda- 
mental objection must be stated. The Culture Epoch 
theory assumes that a child must be educated according 
to his instincts which have been inherited from his an- 
cestors. It assumes that the plays of children, for ex- 
ample, are determined by their heredity and that educa- 
tion must adapt itself to the line of interests that the 
instinctive plays have mapped out. 

How Interpret Imitative Plays. — But such an inter- 
pretation of interests and of plays cannot account for 
imitation, and imitative plays constitute much the larger 
number of plays in which children engage. It is by means 
of imitation that a reflex passes over into a conscious 
voluntary act, and all early processes of education are 



116 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

possible only because a child can imitate. Instinct means 
fixity of nervous structure, while imitation implies plas- 
ticity. It is only upon a plastic nervous structure that 
education can produce any effect. 

Education Depends Upon Plasticity of Organization, 
Not Upon Inherited Instincts. — Our educational processes 
and courses of study must, then be based upon the plas- 
ticity of the child's nervous organism, and not upon its 
fixed structure. It must regard the imitative character 
of children, and not direct its energies to the child's in- 
stinctive activities. The child in his education must absorb 
the social life about him, and not act out the life pro- 
cesses of his ancestors. The most valuable inheritance of 
the child is not the experience of his ancestors, fixed as 
instinct, but the plastic nervous character by which his 
ancestors were able to learn new things, and which is 
a necessary condition for his own learning. 

Course of Study Adapted to Intellectual Capacity, 
Not to Racial History. — Our course of study and the ex- 
ercises that we give our children in school should be 
adapted to their intellectual capacity, and not at all to the 
experiences of the race in the periods that correspond. 
The experiences of the race w T ere not determined in the 
largest measure by their intellectual capacity. The race 
had intellectual capacity that would enable them to read 
and write long before the phonetic alphabet and the 
processes of reading and writing had been invented. 

Education Determined by Present Conditions, Not by 
Past Experiences. — It is our purpose, through the pro- 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 117 

cesses of education, to obviate the necessity for the child's 
passing through all these primitive experiences, and to 
lead him by a short cut to the methods of thought of 
the present day. There seems to be nothing gained by go- 
ing the long way round. What we really wish to do is 
to educate the child for present conditions and into the 
life of the present. The life of the past has disappeared 
because something better has been discovered. It would 
seem to be a mistake to base our teaching upon the life 
of the past, thereby retaining, as far as we are able, 
that experience which has been proved to be inadequate, 
instead of substituting directly for it that which is recog- 
nized as better. 

Three Periods of Intellectual Development. — We may, 
however, readily recognize in the life of the child three 
well-marked periods of intellectual development. The first 
stage is the period of infancy, lasting from the time that 
the child is born until the time of the second dentition. 
Approximately, this is described by the time from birth 
until the child is seven years of age. It is easily possible 
to distinguish two periods in this space of time; the 
period of earlier infancy, lasting from the time the child 
is born until the first set of teeth are obtained; and the 
period of later infancy, lasting from the time of first 
dentition until that of the second. 

The time at which this period ends is not the same 
for all children. We ordinarily send children to school 
at six years of age ; but it is as wrong to send some 
children to school at six as it is to keep others out of 
school after thev are five. 



118 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Period of Infancy. — The period of infancy is a period 
of vivid imaginings. The child is frequently unable to 
distinguish an idea from a percept. The stick is a real 
horse to him, and the doll is a real child. In this period 
of infancy, the child is non-social. His plays are distinct- 
ly individual plays and he does not need the cooperation 
of another child in order to play. Two children may play 
at the same time, and may slide down the same cellar 
door, but one waits while the other slides down. There 
is no necessity for cooperation. The plays that are most 
attractive are sense plays and imitation plays. The child 
is constantly searching for new sensations, and receives 
the keenest enjoyment from the exercise of the muscular 
sense. This accounts for his tendency to jump up and 
down without moving from place to place. The ten- 
dency to make a noise arises from the satisfaction ex- 
perienced in the mere exercise of hearing. The child 
likes to play with his parents and with older people, and 
at first appearance this looks as if it were a cooperative 
play. Really it is not, but the activity of the parent toss- 
ing the child about is merely another way by which the 
child obtains a new sensation. 

Infancy Egoistic. — The child in this stage is purely 
selfish. His only business is to live, and he makes every- 
thing contribute to that end. There is no room in his 
nature for generous actions or altruistic motives. When 
such actions appear, analysis will show that they are 
imitative actions, or arise from the suggestion of some 
elder person. 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 119 

Criticism of Kindergarten Theory. — A criticism has 
been made upon the kindergarten that appears to have 
some validity. The criticism is that the kinder- 
garten undertakes to make children social before they 
have reached the stage of development in which it is 
possible for their social natures to affect their actions. 
The cooperative games of children in the kindergarten 
are not natural to the children, but are carried on at the 
suggestion of the teacher and by a process of imitation. 
Not until the children have passed the period of in- 
fancy is there any opportunity for the development of 
the altruistic spirit and the social nature. 

Period of Childhood. — The second period of child- 
growth is that of childhood, extending from about the 
age of seven to fourteen, and culminating at about the 
age of eleven. It extends from the time of the second 
dentition to the oncoming of adolescence. The limits of 
this period may vary in different children by as much as 
two years, or more. This period is approximately cov- 
ered by the years devoted to elementary school work. 
It is not by accident or chance that the elementary school 
course covers a period of eight years, nor is it chance 
that a few schools extend the period to nine years and 
that others shorten it to seven. The child is a different 
being in these seven years from what he was in the first 
years of his life. The characteristics of this period are 
better manifested in boys than they are in girls. The 
child's nature has changed, and he begins to be a social 
being. The plays most favored are those that demand 



120 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the cooperation of other children, and mostly take on 
the character of competitive plays. Fighting is a good 
example, and fighting plays are characteristic of this 
period. There is little or no disposition to work as 
teams. One boy tries to out jump or outdo another. 
He wishes to excel for himself, and is little actuated to 
excel for his side or for his school. Emulation is a strong- 
motive in this period, and there is no really good reason 
for refusing to employ it as a motive in school work. 

Period of Adolescence. — The third period of child- 
growth is the period of adolescence, which begins ap- 
proximately at the age of fourteen for boys, and a year 
or two earlier for girls, and extends to the twenty-first 
year. It is the period that is covered by the high school 
and the college course. It is not an accidental circum- 
stance that high school and college life is so very differ- 
ent from that of elementary school. The adolescent 
is a different person from what the child was. A great 
transformation has occurred in his nature, and his in- 
terests, aspirations, and motives are decidedly changed. 
In this stage the adolescent becomes distinctly social. 
Competitive plays are still prominent, but the competition 
now is that of side against side, party against party. 
The individual sinks his individuality in that of the 
team, and the most popular plays are those that demand 
team work. Football and baseball are appropriate games 
for this age. They are not so for younger children, and 
when played by them, are rather imitative, than team 
plays. Love plays become prominent if not predominant. 



PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 121 

This is the age, too, when young people begin to inquire 
into the nature of things, and speculative studies have an 
attraction for them. Political economy and psychology 
are favorite subjects, and religious conversion takes place 
usually in this period. 

Special Significance of Adolescence, — It ought to be 
observed that in our modern school work the period of 
adolescence has an especial significance. One of the 
most efficient causes in bringing man up to the state in 
which he stands at the head of the animal world is the 
prolongation of the period of dependence, or infancy, in 
the large sense of the term. The prolongation of the 
period of dependence allows such a complete adjustment 
that the mental life develops in a way that would other- 
wise be impossible. In ancient or barbarous society, a 
child, upon entering the period of adolescence is ac- 
counted mature. He is allowed to marry and to become 
a hunter and warrior with other men of his tribe. In 
modern civilized society such is not the case. Although 
most of our compulsory education laws permit the youth 
to discontinue school at the age of fourteen and go to 
work, thus conforming to the older standard of maturity, 
the young man is not allowed to vote until he is twenty- 
one, and the young woman 1 is still accounted a girl and 
not a woman until long after she is twelve. Modern 
civilized society adds another seven years to the period 
of dependence, with results of greatest value to society 
as a whole. This further prolongation of the period of 
infancv allows more time for adjustment and educa- 



122 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

tion, and it is perhaps one of the most important factors 
in continuing our civilization. 

Synopsis. 

1. The biogenetic law asserts that every animal re- 
peats in the course of its development the history of the 
race. 

2. Zillers theory asserts similarly, that every indi- 
vidual human being repeats in the course of his mental 
development the history of the human race. 

3. A scientific course of study must recognize the 
successive stages in the development of the individual, 
and present the proper materials for each stage of de- 
velopment. 

4. Ziller's theory is true in its largest features, but 
of no practical value in making a course of study. 
Other circumstances overshadow the importance of 
racial development. 

5. Three different stages in the development of the 
individual must be recognized, however, and these are 
the stages now provided for, first, in the home educa- 
tion of infancy ; second, the elementary education of 
childhood ; third, the adolescent education of the high 
school and college. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The Theory of Play. 

Why Study Play? — We need to study the plays of 
children for two reasons : First, because we can learn 
more about children by studying their plays, and by study- 
ing the children when they are playing, than we can in 
any other way. When a child is playing, he is not un- 
der restraint, and his actions are a true index to his char- 
acter. 

Only Play Processes Educative. — The second reason 
is because of a widely discussed theory that play activi- 
ties of children are the only processes by which they be- 
come educated. The theory asserts that activities which 
do not take the form of play are not educative. This is 
implied in the statement that children, in order to be 
educated, must be interested in their school work. The 
reasoning by which this conclusion is reached involves 
the affirmation of some or all of the following propo- 
sitions : 

Educated Only by Self-activity. — A child is educated 
by means of his own self-activity, which is manifested 
only in actions that originate within himself, not in those 
which are forced upon him from the outside. The im- 
pulse to self -activity is always accompanied by a feel- 

123 



124 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

ing having a pleasant tone, which we may call interest. 
But the activities in which a child is interested are 
those which take the form of play. Hence it is proper 
to say that only play activities can call forth a child's 
self -activity, and have any truly educative effect upon 
him. When a child engages in tasks at the command 
of another, and is not interested in the doing of them, 
his self-activity is not called into action, and the result 
is not truly educative. It is rather the activity of the 
person who for the time being assumes the function of 
taskmaster that is manifested in the activity of the 
children. 

Wrong Idea of Play. — This view of play is too ex- 
treme. Such a definition of play is not satisfactory. It 
assumes that anything which the child likes to do is 
play, and that anything which the child does, without lik- 
ing to do it, is work. It assumes that the distinction be- 
tween play and work resides in the tone of the feeling 
which accompanies the activity. This is the commonly 
recognized distinction between play and work. Per- 
sons talk about certain kinds of work being as good as 
play, and of making play out of their work, implying 
that when the work that is to be done affords pleasure 
in the doing, it changes into play ; and that any activity 
which is disagreeable, by that very fact takes on the char- 
acter of work. 

Real Definition of Play. — A much more satisfactory 
statement of the distinction between play and work may 
be made in something like the following manner : Play 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 125 

is any activity which is undertaken for the sake of the 
activity itself, and not at all for the result which is to 
come from the activity. The person who plays is paid 
for his exertion by the exertion itself. Work is any ac- 
tivity which is undertaken for the result which is to 
follow from the activity. 

Relation of Pleasantness and Unpleasantness to Play. 
— Pleasantness and unpleasantness are not the determin- 
ing factors in discriminating work from play. To de- 
termine whether a given form of activity is play or 
work, we must look at the result of the activity. Work 
may be pleasant, and still be work. Play may be unpleas- 
ant and still be play, although when such a condition pre- 
vails, we can usually discontinue the play. To the 
person who is playing a disagreeable game, there is 
usually no object in continuing it. 

Spencer's Theory of Play. — There are three theories 
of play which it is important for us to understand. The 
first is Spencer's theory, which will be found stated in 
his Principles of Psychology, Volume I, page 628. Mr. 
Spencer assumes that play is the activity arising out 
of the disposition to expend a surplus of energy which is 
generated in excess of the demands made upon it by 
the activities of the animal, and by the physiological 
demands of the body. Thus we find children and kit- 
tens and other young animals playing, while with the old 
men and cats and older animals play is rare. The young of 
any species of animal generates a large amount of energy, 
much of which is in excess of the ordinary demands made 



126 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

upon it, and this surplus of energy is demonstrated by 
the processes of growth. Also, when a child or a kit- 
ten or the young of any species of animal becomes sick 
or enfeebled, one of the first indications of sickness is 
the disinclination to play. The sick condition of the 
animal is particularly unfavorable to the generation of 
nervous energy, and there is no surplus of energy de- 
manding expenditure in play. 

Criticism of Spencers Theory. — Mr. Spencer's theory 
has been seriously criticised, especially by Mr. Groos, 
who points out the fact that children and other animals 
sometimes play to the point of complete exhaustion, long 
after the time when any available surplus of energy has 
been expended. However, it really seems that there is 
a very large measure of truth in Mr. Spencer's theory. 
It certainly is not all the truth about play, but it does 
seem to contain a great deal of truth. 

Groos' Theory. — The second theory of play is that 
of Groos, which is elaborated in his two books, The Play 
of Animals and the Play of Man. His theory is that play 
is a preparation in the present for the work of the future. 
A kitten plays with flying leaves and balls of yarn and 
other moving things, involving the same activity and 
cultivating the same kind of skill that will be needed for 
catching mice and other kinds of prey when the kitten 
shall have become a mature cat. So we shall find the 
play activities of children involving the same kind of 
skill necessary for engaging in the occupations of man- 
hood. The play activities seem to arise from the bring- 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 127 

ing forward of the instincts that furnish the motives 
for the activities before the time when the activities 
themselves are necessary. The instinctive activities are 
brought forward into the infancy period, thus allowing 
an opportunity for skill to be acquired that will be needed 
in mature life. The cat will not need to exercise her 
preying instincts until she is six months or more old; 
but the instincts for catching prey are developed in the 
kittens by the time that they are three or four weeks old. 
So through play, in the time from four weeks old to the 
time when they are six months old, the skill demanded 
for the successful pursuit of prey, is acquired. 

Criticism of Groos Theory. — The truth in this theory 
is that play does prepare the young animal for the ac- 
tivities of mature life. But Mr. Groos makes the as- 
sumption that play is for the purpose of accomplishing 
this result. He assumes a teleological motive which can- 
not be allowed. It does not explain the facts that Mr. 
Spencer brings forward as evidence of the truth of 
his theory, nor does it account for those forms of play 
activities which have no counterpart in the life of the 
mature individual. While there is an element of truth in 
the theory, it is perhaps the least valuable of the three. 

Stanley Hall's Theory. — The third theory of play is 
that of G. Stanley Hall, although the theory was stated 
in almost the same form by a German philosopher, Laza- 
rus. 

This theory is that play is an activity in the young 
which repeats the activities of the ancestors of the race. 



128 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

A kitten plays with moving objects, because acting in 
that manner toward moving objects was the business of 
ancestral cats in catching prey. So boys like to hunt, 
in play, because hunting was an activity pursued for 
many centuries by the ancestors of the boy. With the 
boy it is play, but with the ancestors it was a business. 
The instinct to hunt became fixed in the constitution of 
primitive man and appears in his descendants, even though 
the act of hunting as a business has disappeared. The 
nervous system of the ancestors became adjusted to the 
activities of the various occupations which they pur- 
sued, and that adjustment, with whatever modifications 
of the nervous system it involved, was inherited by 
their descendants. 

Criticism of Hall's Theory. — There appears to be a 
good deal of truth in this theory. The particular instincts 
which find expression in various forms of play were 
probably acquired by the ancestors from their occupations. 
But this will not account for all the forms that play ac- 
tivity assumes. It is true that the boy will play hunting 
and fighting games, and this may be accounted for by the 
fact that the ancestors of the boy hunted and fought. 
But the same boy will play games that involve the use of 
the telephone, or telescope, or locomotive, or train, which 
occupations were unknown in ancestral experience. 

Incompleteness of All Theories of Play. — The differ- 
ence between Stanley Hall's theory and Groos' theory is 
that Stanley Hall's theory looks to the past for the origin 
of play activities, while Groos' theory looks to the future. 



THE THEORY OE PLAY 129 

Hall's and Spencer's theories do not consider the same 
question at all. There can be no conflict between Spencer 
and Hall in this matter because they are considering dif- 
ferent things. Spencer considers the origin of the play 
activity itself, while Hall discusses the particular form 
that the activity assumes. It seems as if these three theo- 
ries are not mutually exclusive at all. In some degree 
they may be made to supplement each other, and elements 
from all are necessary in the construction of any satis- 
factory theory of play. Perhaps something more than 
is involved in any one of them may be needed to make 
the theory of play complete. 

Two Ways of Classifying Plays. — We may study the 
plays of children by classifying them according to two 
characteristics : First, according to the nature of the 
plays themselves ; or second, according to the ages of 
the children to whom particular plays are most attractive 
and appropriate. Certain kinds of plays are most attrac- 
tive for children of one age, while the same plays lose 
their attractiveness when the children become older. 

Sense Plays. — Considering the plays in themselves, 
we shall find a large group of sense plays. The exercise 
of any sense in a moderate degree affords pleasure, and 
the pleasure thus derived is sufficient inducement for 
the exercise of the sense activity. Thus it conforms to 
our definition of play, and we may properly speak of 
sense plays. A sense may be exercised for another pur- 
pose than the mere satisfaction derived from its exercise, 
but when such is the case, the exercise of the sense is 



130 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

not play. But in many cases the sense is exercised for 
the mere pleasure that accompanies the exercise; and 
when such is the case, the exercise is truly play. 

Toxtch Plays. — The sense of touch is the source of 
many plays. We like to feel a smooth surface, as a 
smooth piece of polished glass, or the polished surface of 
a piano case. We enjoy the feel of plush or velvet. 
Sometimes pleasure is derived from rubbing the palm 
of one's hand over the bristles of a hair brush. A 
baby puts things into his mouth, not for the nourishment 
to be thence derived, but for the satisfaction to be ob- 
tained by the exercise of the sense of touch. He will try 
to put a doorknob into his mouth as readily as he will 
something from which nourishment is to be derived. 
The sense of touch is more delicate in the mouth and 
upon the tongue than it is in any other part of the body. 

Gum chewing is a sense play in the sense of touch. 
People chew gum, not for the nourishment that is to be 
derived from it, nor for the taste ; but they chew gum 
for the satisfaction of feeling it with the mouth and teeth 
and tongue. It is one of the best examples of touch 
play. Splashing in the water, while wading, swimming, 
or washing is largely a play in the touch sense. The 
feeling of water on the skin is sufficient inducement to 
do those things which bring the water intd contact with 
it. 

Temperature Plays. — The sense of temperature is the 
basis of many plays. We like ice water or ice cream. 
We experience the sense of taste, also, in ice cream, but 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 131 

the taste is just the same after the ice cream is melted 
that it was before ; yet we prefer to eat our ice cream 
before it has been melted. The preference that we man- 
ifest for the frozen ice cream over the same when melted 
indicates how much of the pleasure is a temperature 
play. So we like hot coffee, or hot tea. We enjoy 
also iced tea or iced coffee, but coffee that is neither 
hot nor cold contributes little to our enjoyment. We 
like to feel the bracing air of winter that makes our 
blood tingle. This means that we enjoy the cold tem- 
perature, but we also enjoy the sensation of warmth ex- 
perienced when we come into the house and stand by a 
hot stove. We enjoy a hot bath or a cold bath, and when 
we experience either, we have a combination of two kinds 
of play, a touch and a temperature play. When the tem- 
perature is approximately that of the skin we experience 
a touch play only. 

Taste Plays. — Taste is the source of many plays. We 
eat candy, not for the nourishment derived from it, but 
for the satisfaction obtained in the exercise of the sense 
of taste. The same thing is true in large measure with 
anything we eat that is seasoned to the taste. The little 
boy who defined salt as the thing which makes your po- 
tatoes taste bad when you don't put any on, was not far 
from the truth. The potatoes would furnish just as 
much nourishment without the salt as they do with it, 
but we should not experience the taste play without the 
salt or other seasoning. It is safe to say that a large 
part of our eating is in the nature of a taste play. 



132 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Equilibrium Plays. — Equilibrium furnishes still more 
plays. Children sometimes whirl around until they be- 
come dizzy for the sake of experiencing the dizziness. 
This method of exciting the sensation of dizziness is 
associated with a movement play, but the dizziness is 
an equilibrium play. Walking on the rails of a railroad 
track is another manifestation of a play of equilibrium. 
Whether the satisfaction derived from turning hand- 
springs, or standing on one's head, or performing other 
acrobatic feats can be classed with equilibrium plays 
may be questioned. Probably the greater part of such 
activity is another kind of play. 

Muscle Plays. — The exercise of the muscles, giving 
rise to the muscular sensation is another kind of play. 
The movement of one's own body in running or jump- 
ing or any other kind of vigorous exercise is a muscle 
play. This is the kind of play that serves Spencer par- 
ticularly well as his illustration of the origin of play. 
Dancing is placed here, at least in part, The exercise of 
the muscles, whenever satisfaction is afforded by their 
exercise, is a muscle play. 

Movement Plays. — But there is another kind of play 
which involves a movement of one's own body that is 
not a muscle play and which may properly be called a 
movement play. It is illustrated by such movements as 
riding in a merry-go-round, jumping from an elevation, 
sliding down a banister, or sliding down a straw stack, 
Here belongs also in large measure the satisfaction de- 
rived from riding, driving, bicycling, automobiling, skat- 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 133 

ing, coasting, or riding in a rapidly moving railroad train. 
In some of these forms of amusement, especially those 
that demand muscular activity, the movement play is as- 
sociated with a muscle play. 

Plays in Moving Bodies. — Besides the movement of 
one's own body, there is a kind of play that consists of 
moving other things about. Such plays are throwing 
a ball, skipping stones on the water, knocking over 
chairs or throwing things from a window or down a 
well. These occupations are very attractive to children 
and furnish them many plays. Tearing paper and many 
of the destructive plays of children are of this nature. 

Sight Plays. — Many important plays arise from the 
exercise of the higher senses, seeing and hearing. We 
like to let the light into our eyes, and we like to see 
things. The mere exercise of the sense of sight is a 
pleasure, as we can easily determine by observing how, 
in a dimly lighted room, every one will face the light. 
Confinement in darkness is a great punishment. Monot- 
ony becomes wearisome, and we experience pleasure from 
the appearance of color in the grass and in the trees 
when spring comes. Colored flowers attract us. We 
appreciate highly the exercise of the color sense, and 
seeing color is a sensation play. We find pleasure in 
looking at the rainbow, or the solar spectrum as it is 
cast by a prism. W r e enjoy, also, looking at things 
through a prism, and experiencing the virtual spectrum 
thus disclosed. Colored pictures on our walls please us, 
both by their color and by the forms they represent. In the 



134 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

play on the color sense and the sense of sight we have 
the beginning of our appreciation of art, both pictorial 
and plastic. Enjoyment of art is a play of the sense of 
sight, and the artist is a player. 

Hearing Plays. — Nearly the same thing may be said 
of hearing that has been said of sight. Children like to 
make a noise merely for the sake of hearing it. A baby 
likes to knock things on the floor, and a boy will pound 
two tin potlids together for the purpose of enjoying the 
excruciating noise thus produced. It is as satisfying 
to the boy as is the finest music to some other people. 
African savages that pound on tomtoms are playing in 
the same way. Some pianos sound like tin pans and be- 
tween the pianos that sound like tin pans and those 
that do not there is a difference only in degree. We 
shall thus see that all of our appreciation of music grows 
out of this play in the sense of hearing, and is merely an 
elaborated form of it. In this way we have indicated 
the origin of music, and we know that it is not a sud- 
den development in the race. 

Imitation Plays. — Besides the sense plays, we have 
a large group of imitation plays. The child is essentially 
an imitative animal, and the disposition to imitate the 
occupations of older people appears very early. Chil- 
dren imitate the occupations of their parents and of 
other persons. Housekeeping is almost an universal play, 
because housekeeping is almost an universal business. 
Playing with dolls is accounted for on the basis of imi- 
tation rather than because of an inherited maternal in- 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 135 

stinct. The maternal instinct scarcely develops before 
the period when dolls are laid aside. 

Examples of Imitation. — Boys will imitate the occu- 
pations of men whom they see at work. They will build 
houses, make bricks, run engines, play train, blacksmith, 
drive horses, and plow. Every occupation that comes 
within the observation of children will be imitated. We 
notice the imitations of children most explicitly when 
the occupations that are imitated are comparatively rare 
and unusual. When a circus comes to town, all the boys 
for the next three days will play circus, and will be ably 
assisted by their sisters. Every boy wants to be a clown 
or a daring bareback rider. Keeping store is a favorite 
imitative play, and playing school is another that is 
almost universal among children of school age, or just 
before it. Sometime in their lives all children have played 
church, and preached a sermon, and carried out the full 
program of religious exercises. They have imitated a 
funeral occasion, and doubtless buried a favorite doll. 
It is quite customary for boys on a farm, about the time 
of the annual slaughtering of hogs, to carry on a butch- 
ering of their own, using rats or other animals instead of 
hogs. We have read of boys who imitated the events of an 
execution by hanging, to the imminent danger of the sub- 
ject of their play. 

Unable to Account for Imitation. — Perhaps imitation 
is the source of a larger number of plays than is any 
other principle. Neither Mr. Hall's theory nor Mr. 
Groos' can account for the disposition of children to 



136 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

play store, nor to play train, nor to play church, nor do 
the imitative plays corroborate either theory. Neither 
of these plays is a repetition of ancestral experience in 
any proper sense of the word, nor can we see that any 
one of these plays is a preparation for anything that is 
likely to come. 

Memory Plays. — Some plays are more or less intel- 
lectual. They consist in the exercise of the mental 
processes merely for the sake of exercising them. Mem- 
ory exercises are favorite forms of play. The remem- 
bering of Mother Goose rhymes, nonsense jingles, or 
counting-out rhymes are partly of this kind. So older 
persons sometimes play memory games. Games some- 
what similar to The House that Jack Built are common. 
My Aunt's Garden, Key to the King's Garden, The Little 
Man's House are games of this kind that may be found 
described in almost any book of Fireside Amusements. 

Imagination Plays. — Imagination furnishes a basis for 
a large number of plays. Here may be classed all fairy 
tales, day dreams, the reading of stories classed as fic- 
tion, except that in some cases, other elements than 
imagination, and consequently other plays than imagina- 
tive plays are involved in their reading. Imagination also 
includes the plays in which there is self-illusion. The 
broomstick is to the boy a real horse, through the ex- 
ercise of imagination, and many of the plays of children 
are imaginative plays. 

Other Plays. — The will is sometimes made the basis 
of play. Boys dare each other, and taunt each other 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 137 

into doing what they would not otherwise attempt. So 
experiments with the feelings take the form of play. 
Listening to ghost stories is partly a play with the feel- 
ing of fear. Persons enjoy being scared just a little. 
Some persons like to read books that make them weep 
and enjoy listening to the dramatic rendering of plays 
which have the same effect. Ordinarily weeping is the 
expression of sorrow, but in such cases as those just 
mentioned, an experiment with the feelings that causes 
weeping is a real play. 

Plays of Infancy. — Leaving now the study of plays 
in themselves, we shall be able to understand the nature 
of children more perfectly if we group their plays ac- 
cording to another characteristic. We shall find that 
the plays of children up to the age of about seven years 
are individual plays. The first and the most numerous 
kind is the sense play, and the next in importance is the 
imitative play. The little child is not a social animal. 
Even when he is playing with his parents, he is using 
the parents as the source and means of a new sensation, 
or it is an individual sense play. Two children may play 
in the same place and at the same time, but such play 
is not necessarily a cooperative play. Sometimes in imi- 
tative plays it is difficult for us to realize that the plays 
are essentially individual, because the individual element 
is obscured by the cooperative nature of the occupation 
which is imitated. Even fighting, with little children, 
is not a cooperative play. Little children seldom fight, 
and when thev do, it is usnallv because one child wishes 



138 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

to take something that the other child possesses, and the 
resulting combat is not a play, nor a desire to fight for 
the sake of fighting, but righting for the possession of 
something desired. 

Plays of Childhood. — With the period of childhood, 
from seven to fourteen, and varying as much as two years 
either way, a different kind of play appears. Individual 
and sense plays continue, but other plays not before en- 
gaged in, except very slightly in imitation, now become 
the dominant feature in play. The plays that are char- 
acteristic are cooperative plays They demand the co- 
operation of other children of the same age. The child 
begins to forsake the companionship of his parents, and 
attracts to himself the companionship of other boys. The 
most characteristic of these plays are competitive, or 
fighting plays. One boy cannot fight unless another boy 
agrees to fight with him. So each boy tries to excei all 
other boys in whatever he undertakes. He tries to jump 
farther, or run faster, or climb higher, or shout louder 
than all other boys. It is one boy against another boy, 
or against all other boys. 

Competitive Plays. — This competitive instinct may be 
exemplified in other ways than physical competitions. It 
may be involved in mental processes, not merely in ex- 
celling other children, but in excelling one's self. The 
competitive instinct may be applied to the solution of 
puzzles, or of problems in arithmetic, whose attractive- 
ness for some children seems to lie in the opportunity 
furnished for an exercise of this instinct. A large part 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 139 

of the interest manifested by children in the older schools 
in the study of arithmetic and spelling was of this 
nature. The competitive instinct was employed very 
effectively in teaching spelling, by means of spelling 
matches and spelling schools. Being strong and general, 
there seems to be no valid objection to making a proper 
use of this competitive instinct in school work. 

Plays of Adolescence. — When children reach the 
age of adolescence, another kind of play begins to make 
itself manifest. The individual and the sense plays con- 
tinue, but the competitive plays take on a new character. 
Instead of being individual competitive plays, they be- 
come team plays. It is through the activities of these 
cooperative team plays that the adolescent becomes so- 
cialized. The best examples of competitive team plays 
are football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Here the 
individual must sink his individuality in the success of 
the team. The coach is constantly called upon to dis- 
courage the making of grand stand plays. So there are 
debating teams and literary contests and school compe- 
titions in which the competitive team feature is promi- 
nent. 

Football and Prise Fighting. — Some persons have de- 
clared their inability to distinguish between football and 
prize fighting. Both are competitive games, but football 
is a team play while prize fighting is an individual play. 
The prize fighter is an example of retarded development. 
His social nature is arrested in the stage of the pre- 
adolescent period and he could never excel as a football 



140 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

player. It would be impossible for him to sink his indi- 
viduality in the work of the team. 

Why, Little Boys Cannot Play Football. — Boys below 
the age of fourteen cannot play football or baseball suc- 
cessfully. When such games are played by boys below 
this age they are imitative, rather than team plays. The 
fact that imitation leads to the playing of almost any 
kind of a game is a source of very serious entanglement 
and misunderstanding of the nature of the games played. 
A cooperative play or occupation may be imitated as 
truly as are individual occupations, and the cooperative 
character of the original frequently misleads us about 
the imitative origin of the play. 

Love Plays. — In the adolescent period, another 
kind of play becomes of great importance. This is the 
love play, a good example of which is found in dancing. 
Dancing, besides the love play, involves a movement play 
and a muscle play ; but in the adolescent period the love 
play feature becomes prominent. Any kind of a play 
in which the cooperation of some person of the opposite 
sex is demanded may be considered a love play. We must 
class with the love plays the reading of novels in which 
the love story is prominent. We have in such classes of 
fiction, both the imagination play and the love play; but 
it will be found that the love story is especially attractive 
to adolescents, while it is usually quite distasteful to 
children before the adolescent period. We must class 
with the love plays, also, such social functions as picnics, 
parties, and balls. These are particularly attractive to 



THE THEORY OF PLAY 141 

young people in the adolescent period, and when they con- 
stitute an episode in the experience of pre-adolescents, 
we must consider them as imitative plays. While the 
individual and sense plays of the period of infancy, and 
the individual competitive play of the period of child- 
hood persist, the adolescent period is characterized by 
the introduction of two new elements that shadow forth 
imperative interests in the life of the race, the team play 
and the love play. 

Synopsis. 

1. The study of children's plays enables us to under- 
stand the children better than we can in any other way. 
In play, children are unrestrained and undirected, so 
that they manifest their real nature. 

2. Play is the performance of any activity that is 
undertaken for the sake of the activity itself. Work 
is any activity that is undertaken for the result to be 
accomplished by it. The pleasantness and unpleasantness 
of the activity does not distinguish play from work. 

3. Plays may be classified according to the functions 
exercised. We may distinguish sense plays, imitative 
plays and mental plays. 

4. Plays may be classified according to the ages of 
children to whom they are of most interest. We may 
distinguish the plays of infancy, of childhood, and of 
adolescence. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Interest. 

The plays of children are manifestations of their 
various interests, and we can recognize what interests 
the children feel by observing their plays. 

Value of Interest. — All teachers agree upon one thing : 
That is, that if a child is interested in his lessons he will 
learn much more rapidly and with much less effort than 
if not. Starting from this point, one school of educa- 
tional philosophers, whom merely for convenience we 
shall call the Interest people, make some rather startling 
deductions. They say, in the first place, that all school- 
work should be interesting to the children ; that only 
those subjects in which the children are interested, have 
for them any educative value; that if a child is not in- 
terested in any particular subject it is evidence that such 
subject is not appropriate for him to study at that time ; 
that if he is not interested in the subject, it shows that 
he is not in the proper stage of development to derive 
benefit from its study. 

Interest Determines All School Work. — In this way 
the interest of the child becomes the predominant factor 
in selecting materials for a course of study, and for ar- 
ranging the order in which they shall be presented. All 

142 



INTEREST 143 

school work takes on the form of play, although it will 
be remembered that the Interest people define play as 
any activity that gives pleasure, or is accompanied by 
a feeling having a pleasurable tone. The course of study, 
under the conception of the Interest people, cannot be 
any fixed and definite statement of things to be done, 
but all school work, from the lowest to the highest, be- 
comes elective. There is no thought in this method of 
procedure of making the child conform to the community 
ideal, and modifying his natural disposition, but the 
idea carried out in its ultimate conclusion leads to the 
development of the natural disposition of the child with- 
out reference to the community ideal. Perhaps it is the 
influence of this idea which lies at the basis of the recent 
development of elective courses in our high schools. 

Argument of the Will People. — But there is another 
group of people who hold a different opinion about the 
purpose of school life. For our present purpose, and 
merely as a matter of convenience, we may designate 
them as the Will people. They assert that the fact a 
child is interested in a particular thing is rather a reason 
why it should not be made the basis of instruction in 
school, than that it should. If a child is interested in a 
particular kind of study, he will learn about it without 
any teaching. It is a good thing for a boy to fly kites 
and to play ball, and much benefit may be expected to 
come from learning to play these games. But instead 
of establishing courses in kite-flying and ball-playing 
in school, the kite-flying and ball-playing may be left 



144 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

to take care of themselves, and the school can turn its 
attention to teaching something else that the child in all 
probability will not otherwise learn. 

School Should Train to Do Disagreeable Things. — 
The Will people say that life consists of many hard, 
disagreeable things ; that the child must learn to do these 
disagreeable things, and it is the function of the school 
to prepare him for performing such actions in life. The 
school should devote itself especially to teaching those 
things in which the child is not particularly interested, 
but which it is necessary that he should know in order 
to become a useful citizen. This is really the justification 
for the establishment of a school. 

Training the Will. — The Will people say also, that 
if the child is to spend his energy in school doing only 
those things that are pleasant for him, there is no oppor- 
tunity for the development and training of the will. That 
he must be trained to have a strong will and do disagree- 
able things in order that, when the occasion arises,, he 
may be willing to choose the disagreeable and difficult, 
rather than the easy and pleasant things. He must 
learn to do his duty because it is his duty, and not be- 
cause it is pleasant for him to do it. This is the most 
important function of school work; and unless the 
school makes of its pupils men of strong wills, ready 
to choose the disagreeable and difficult, it has utterly 
failed in its undertaking. 

Methods of Teaching Should Train the Will. — Not 
only must the subjects of instruction be those in which 



INTEREST 145 

the children feel little natural interest, but the methods 
of teaching would better accentuate the uninteresting 
character of school work. The things to be learned 
would better be learned in the more difficult, rather than 
the easier way. The more difficult the subject is made 
in school, provided that it is learned well, the better is 
the instruction, according to the views of the Will 
people. It furnishes a better opportunity for the de- 
velopment of will power. In fact, to cultivate the will 
in school it does not make very much difference what 
you study, just so it is a something that you do not like. 

Rejoinder of the Interest People. — To these proposi- 
tions of the Will people, the Interest people make a re- 
joinder. They say that to keep a boy doing disagreeable 
tasks is not a cultivation of the will of the boy, but 
rather the will of the teacher. The will can be cultivated 
only by causing the impulses leading to action to spring 
from the inside, and not by impressing them upon the 
boy from the outside. The will cannot be cultivated by 
compulsion, but the only effect of such procedure is to 
bring about a real weakening of the will. 

Proper Cultivation of the Will. — More than this, when 
we compel a boy to attend to a disagreeable thing, we 
are not cultivating his will, but, we are teaching him to 
divide his attention and his energies, — a process which is 
productive of anything else than the effect desired. The 
boy may assume the appearance of studying his history 
lesson while at the same time he may be counting the 
marbles in his pocket, or day-dreaming of sailing the 



146 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Spanish Main in a pirate ship. The only way to cultivate 
the will of the child is to cause the impulse to action to 
spring up from his own consciousness. Hence the will 
can be cultivated only by the method of procedure ad- 
vocated by the Interest people. Only those exercises 
cultivate the will, in any true sense of the word, that 
command the interest of children. 

Weakness of the Argument of the Will People. — 
The reply of the Interest people seems to be satisfactory. 
The real weakness of the argument of the Will people 
is that it is based upon a psychology that is decadent 
and demonstrably wrong. The will is not something* 
that can be trained as a horse or dog can be. Hence their 
argument is fallacious, and wholly beside the question. 

Weakness of the Argument of the Interest People. — 
The Interest people are wrong in their assumption that 
the interest resides in the thing. It is not the thing that 
is interesting but it is we who are interested. Conse- 
quently much of the reasoning of the Interest people 
is as bad or worse than that of the Will people. Let us 
study interest in itself before trying to decide upon the 
relative merits of the arguments advanced by the two 
sides. 

What Interest Is. — Interest is classed by some persons 
as an intellectual process, and is scarcely discriminated 
from attention. It seems much more satisfactory to 
consider interest as a feeling, and to class it with other 
affective processes. A feeling can never exist alone, but 
it is always the accompaniment of an intellectual pro- 



INTEREST 147 

cess. The intellectual process which the feeling that we 
call interest accompanies is a perception. The thing 
that is perceived when we experience the feeling of 
interest is a relation. One of the terms between which 
the relation is perceived is ourselves, and the other term 
is the thing to which we attend. Hence we may define 
interest as the feeling which accompanies the perception 
of the relation which exists between the thing to which 
we attend and ourselves. When no relation is perceived 
between the thing and ourselves, the feeling which we 
experience is not that of interest. 

Everything is Interesting. — When I see a man walk- 
ing along the street, the matter may be of no interest 
to me. But when something indicates that he is my 
father or my brother or some one to whom I owe money, 
then it becomes of interest. The interest has arisen, not 
from any change in the appearance of the man, but 
from the recognition of the relation that he holds to 
me. Similarly, everything in which I am interested is 
related to me in some way. In a certain sense, everything 
in the universe is related to me; so there is nothing in 
the universe in which I am not now, or in which I may 
not become interested. In order that I may be interested 
in any particular thing all that I need to do is to perceive 
that it holds some relation to me. The interest is much 
or little according to the closeness of the relationship. 
Hence it would seem unwise to refuse to teach a partic- 
ular subject because it is of no interest to the child. The 
child is interested in everything in the universe, or he 



148 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

may become so. Lack of interest does not imply a par- 
ticular stage of development, but it implies lack of skill 
and insight in the teacher. Interest in a subject does not 
imply that the subject is the best thing for the child to 
be taught at any particular time. Hence we may be 
perfectly free in our selection of material for the course 
of study, selecting those things which it will be best for 
the child to know, and feeling perfectly confident that, 
if it is presented in the right way and with the proper 
perspective, anything we may choose to present will be 
of interest. 

Interest a Feeling. — Interest is a feeling, but not all 
feelings are interests. If a feeling accompanies some 
other intellectual process than the perception of the re- 
lation between ourselves and something else, then the 
feeling is not one of interest. Like other feelings, in- 
terests may differ in their specific character, and be of 
different kinds ; so it is perfectly proper to speak of 
interests, using the word in the plural. We may have just 
as many different kinds of interests as there are kinds of 
relations that we perceive. 

Three Qualities of Feeling. — Feelings differ from 
each other in at least three important respects. They 
differ in specific character. One feeling needs to be de- 
signated by a different name from another feeling, as 
joy and sorrow. Feelings also differ from each other in 
intensity and may be strong or weak. Feelings also differ 
from each other in tone, by which we mean the pleas- 
antness or unpleasantness which they manifest. Tone 



INTEREST 149 

is so important that many persons have been inclined to 
consider it the feeling itself, rather than one of the 
characteristic qualities of feeling. This accounts in very 
large measure for the fact that by interest most persons 
have meant the pleasantness accompanying an intellectual 
process. But we may have unpleasant interests just as 
truly as pleasant. The pleasant tone of a feeling usualh 
accompanies a degree of resistance in a nervous arc that 
is not so great as to be injurious, while an unpleasant 
interest, or feeling, is usually the accompaniment of a 
degree of resistance which is injurious to the individual. 

Habit Decreases Feeling. — The fact is well estab- 
lished that a repetition of the passage of a nervous im- 
pulse through the same nervous arc leaves such an effect 
in the arc that the nervous impulse will thereafter 
traverse it with less resistance than it did at first. This 
is the law of habit, and it is the most important fact in 
our study of interest. An unpleasant interest, which we 
may regard as the concomitant of great resistance in the 
nervous arc, may, by practice or habit, change to one of 
a pleasant character. When the resistance becomes little 
or nothing, then the interest ceases to be pleasant or un- 
pleasant, and becomes one of monotony. 

Unpleasant Subject Becomes Pleasant by Successful 
Study. — Here we have an explanation of an important 
fact. A subject in school that is too difficult for a class, 
awakens a painful interest and the pupils do not like to 
study it. But if it is studied long enough, and the chil- 
dren understand each lesson as it is studied, the practice 



150 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

diminishes the resistance, and the interest ceases to be 
unpleasant and becomes pleasant. If a lesson is too hard, 
the interest the children experience in studying it is an 
unpleasant interest. If the lesson is too easy, it does 
not furnish a sufficient amount of resistance to arouse any 
kind of feeling, and the interest of the children is not a 
pleasant interest, but one of monotony. 

Interest Usually Follows Attention. — In the above 
facts we have an answer to the question frequently 
asked: Does interest, meaning pleasurable interest, fol- 
low or precede the doing of a piece of work well? In the 
case of a pupil in school, does he do good work because 
he is interested in the subject, or is he interested in the 
subject because he does his work well? If a person is 
interested in his work, there is no doubt that the work will 
be done with the greatest economy of effort. But how 
shall the pleasurable interest be aroused ? This is a prac- 
tical matter, and it will always be found that if a pupil 
undertakes to learn his lesson as well as it is possible 
for him to learn it, the pleasurable interest in the subject 
will increase rapidly. A sure recipe for arousing interest 
in school work is to see that every lesson is well learned 
and thoroughly understood. 

Illustration in This Chapter. — This very chapter will 
furnish an illustration. A person who is not concerned 
with teaching nor with philosophical questions, and who 
reads this chapter over casually, as he would a newspaper 
paragraph, will not experience any feeling of interest in it. 
A teacher, to whom this chapter may be supposed to have 



INTEREST 151 

something of intrinsic interest, and who reads it over with 
little attention, will experience little interest in it. A 
teacher who puts enough energy into the reading of this 
chapter to discover in it an explanation of the phenomena 
of interest or lack of interest in the children that he has 
observed will experience a pleasurable interest in reading 
it. A teacher who has not had the proper kind of psycho- 
logical training to enable him to read this chapter readily 
and understanding^ without much study and great effort, 
but who does read it thoroughly, will experience a pain- 
ful interest in it. A teacher of much experience, or a 
writer upon pedagogy, whose ideas on interest, already 
well established, are jarred out of their setting by the 
critical reading of this chapter, is likely to experience a 
painful interest in it, and to verify by his attitude toward 
these ideas,,, the accuracy of the conclusion here reached. 
How Develop Interest. — Our very definition of inter- 
est also implies what is necessary to the production of 
pleasurable interest in school work. The child who is 
unable to see what relation the subject of instruction 
bears to the life that he is leading or that he must ulti- 
mately lead will not have his interest so readily aroused. 
Hence the teacher who wishes his pupils to learn as 
rapidly and with as little effort .as possible, will devote 
much attention to showing the relation that the subjects 
of instruction bear to the life of the children in school. 
There are so many different kinds of relations and so 
many interests to which appeal may be made that a 
teacher who is skillful and acquainted with the real situa- 
tion will have little difficulty. 



152 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Interest of Curiosity. — It is impossible to make any 
very satisfactory classification of interests. It will serve 
our purpose merely to discuss a few of the most im- 
portant and easily observable interests without undertak- 
ing to classify them all. We may group some of the 
interests in such a way that the grouping may be service- 
able to us without its being a scientific classification. 

The first group of interests we may indicate are those 
of curiosity. They are rather low interests and in them 
is implied something of a reprehensible character. 
When we speak of a person as being very curious by 
nature, or manifesting great curiosity, we mean to imply 
something rather to the discredit of the individual. But 
low as is this interest, it is the first interest that people 
experience, and perhaps it lies at the basis of all im- 
provement that the world has made. The nations that 
lead the world in science and civilization are the nations 
in which the interest of curiosity is prominent. Out of 
it grows the desire to know for the sake of knowing. 
It expresses the relation of the unknown to ourselves. 
The nations of Southern Asia are good examples of 
nations that experience little interest of curiosity. Such 
nations become stagnant and make little progress. The 
letter of the Turkish cadi to Dr. Layard is a classic ex- 
pression of this lack of curiosity. To people who ex- 
perience this lack of curiosity, progress is impossible. 

Letter of a Turkish Cadi to Mr. Layard, who wrote to him 
asking for certain statistical information : 
"My Illustrious Friend and Joy of My Liver : 

"The thing you ask of me is both difficult and useless. 
Although I have passed all my days in this place, I have neither 



INTEREST 153 

counted the houses nor inquired into the number of inhabitants ; 
and as for what one person loads on his mules and the other 
stows away in the bottom of his ship, that is no business of 
mine. But, above all, as to the previous history of this city, 
God only knows the amount of dirt and confusion that the 
infidels may have eaten before the coming of the sword of 
Islam. It were unprofitable to inquire into it. 

"O, my Soul! O, my Lamb! Seek not after the things 
that concern thee not. Thou earnest unto us and we welcomed 
thee: go in peace. 

"Of a truth thou hast spoken many words ; and there is no 
harm done, for the speaker is one and the listener is another. 
After the fashion of thy people thou hast wandered from one 
place to another until thou art happy and content in none. We 
(praise be to God) were born here and never desire to quit it. 
Is it possible, then, that the idea of a general intercourse between 
mankind should make any impression on our understanding? 
God forbid. 

"Listen, O my son. There is no wisdom like unto the belief 
in God. He created the world, and shall we liken ourselves 
unto Him in seeking to penetrate into the mysteries of His 
creation? Shall we say, Behold this star spinneth around that 
star, and this other star with a tail cometh and goeth in so many 
years? Let it go. He from whose hand it came will guide and 
direct it. 

"But thou wilt say, Stand aside, O man, for I am more 
learned than thou art, and have seen more things. If thou 
thinkest that thou art in this respect better than I am, thou art 
welcome. I praise God that I seek not that which I require not. 
Thou art learned in the things that I care not for; and as for 
what thou hast seen, I spit upon it. Will much knowledge 
create thee a double stomach, or wilt thou seek Paradise with 
thine eyes? 

"O my friend, if thou wilt be happy say, There is no God 
but God. Do no evil, and thus wilt thou fear neither man nor 
death, for surely thine hour will come. 

"The Meek in Spirit (El Fakir), 

"Imaum Ali Zadi." 

Curiosity as an Interest in School. — Many teachers 
appeal to the interest of curiosity as a means of stimu- 
lating study. A subject is regarded as interesting be- 
cause it is new and strange. The practice of such teach- 
ears is to do something new all the time in order to keep 
the children interested. It really seems as if it is scarcely 



154 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

advisable to appeal to this interest as a means of inducing 
study, for it is a lower form of interest than is the interest 
of habit, or almost any other. When a class enters upon 
a new subject, it will be discovered that no good work 
is likely to be done until the feeling of newness has 
disappeared and a different interest manifests itself. The 
effect of appealing to the interest of curiosity and of 
doing something new all the time is fatal to the forma- 
tion of correct habits of study, and even if it fails to in- 
duce nervousness in children, it prevents the develop- 
ment of more powerful interests. 

Interest of Exploration. — Similar to the interest of 
curiosity, and yet to be distinguished from it, is the in- 
terest of exploration. This interest is experienced when 
persons travel beyond the boundaries of their horizon, and 
when they see new things for themselves. It is not lim- 
ited to physical exploration, but applies to the fields of 
knowledge in all directions. It is the interest underlying 
what, at present, we call research. 

But not all things are indicative of the interest of 
exploration that appear to be. When a person reads 
up all the guide books that he can find about the places 
which he expects to visit, the probability is strong that 
the real interest is not one of exploration, but one of 
imitation. The person wishes . to imitate what other 
people have done, and if other persons had not visited 
such places and talked about them he would not feel 
inclined to do so. It is not the interest of exploration 
that takes people to Europe in such large numbers every 



INTEREST 155 

summer, but rather the interest of imitation. If it were 
the interest of exploration, they would prefer to visit 
South America, or some other place that is not so com- 
monly frequented by tourists. 

Interest of Habit. — The interest of habit is a powerful 
interest. Habit is a conservator of energy, and anything 
that is done as the result of habit is done with little loss 
of energy. When a thing has become habitual we ex- 
perience little feeling in doing it. The resistance in the 
brain centers involved in the nervous processes has 
diminished to a minimum, and little feeling results. The 
tone has become one of indifference. But when we un- 
dertake to do the thing in a different way, we increase 
the resistance to such an extent that the resulting feeling 
has a painful tone. Often it seems more painful to break 
a habit than it does to form one. The direction of the 
nervous impulse into unaccustomed channels is accom- 
panied by so great an amount of resistance that the con- 
comitant feeling is painful. In the case of an activity 
that is at first painful, repetition diminishes the amount 
of resistance to such an extent that it ceases to be ac- 
companied by a painful feeling, and comes to be attended 
by a pleasurable one. 

Importance of Habit. — Habit is one of the most im- 
portant interests. If a teacher can get a class into the 
habit of learning lessons well, or into the habit of proper 
behavior in school, or into the habit of punctuality, or 
regular attendance, the school work runs smoothly, and 
there is little friction anywhere in the school. All things 



156 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

that contribute to the formation of correct habits of 
study and behavior are important arrangements in the 
making of the school. Strict adherence to the program, 
promptness in opening and closing the school and in the 
different exercises of the day ; the manner of assigning 
lessons and of calling upon the pupils to recite ; everything 
that conduces to the steady movement of the school will 
induce interest of habit and tend to render it helpful 
to the pupils. On the other hand, whatever tends to 
interrupt the formation of good habits in school detracts 
just so much from its efficiency. Even holidays, changes 
of program, new devices, all tend to retard and to pre- 
vent the formation of habit. Just in so far as they 
substitute an interest of less effectiveness for the interest 
of habit, they tend to detract from the effectiveness of the 
school work. 

Interest of Artistic Accomplishment. — The interest of 
artistic accomplishment is well worthy of our considera- 
tion. Sometimes we know that things become monoton- 
ous, and children lose interest in their work. This is 
the justification assigned by many teachers for the change 
of program, the introduction of new exercises, and the 
employment of the interest of curiosity. Monotony is a 
manifestation of indifference. It is not painful, neither 
is it pleasurable. We think of it as something undesira- 
ble because it affords no pleasure. 

With the same amount of nervous energy, the action 
that is performed without feeling will be better done than 
if feeling accompanies it. Usually, however, the feeling 



INTEREST 157 

of monotony accompanies an action that is performed 
with little energy. If a greater amount of nervous 
energy were generated in the doing of the act, feeling, 
not of monotony, or indifference, but of pleasure would 
accompany the action. Hence arises the belief that a 
feeling of pleasure is the best evidence of an action well 
done. 

Artistic Accomplishment Not Monotonous. — The 
work of an artist never becomes monotonous. Whenever 
we do anything in the very best way possible for us to 
do it we always experience a feeling of pleasure. This is 
true after the painful experience of learning has been 
completed, and a habit has been formed. If we do the 
thing as well as we can do it, habit never becomes so 
strong that it takes away the pleasure in the doing. In- 
difference or monotony results only when the amount of 
nervous energy does not increase as the habit is formed. 
When we do a thing in the very best way that we can 
do it, there is always a sufficient amount of resistance to 
create in us the feeling of interest, whether pleasant or 
unpleasant. This unpleasant interest may, and in gen- 
eral will, become diminished by habit, so that the final 
result will always be a pleasant interest. The pleasant 
interest may give way to a feeling of indifference, if no 
larger amount of energy is employed. But in order to do 
the work in the very best possible way we shall need to 
direct the nervous impulse in such an amount through 
the necessary brain centers that considerable resistance 
will be encountered. 



158 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Limit of Skill. — Not only will a larger amount of 
nervous energy result in an increase in interest, but we 
cannot go on improving in the doing of the thing by 
practice indefinitely. There is a limit to the skill which 
we may acquire. We ultimately reach a point where 
we forget as rapidly as we learn. The cells at the limit 
of the brain center which is traversed, recover from the 
effect of the transmission of the nervous impulse through 
them as rapidly as they are modified. Even the most 
skillful artist needs to keep in practice, and a few days 
cessation increases the resistance in the necessary brain 
centers to such an extent that the nervous impulse finds 
a more difficult pathway than before. Hence the result is 
not so successful as on the previous occasion. 

Here we have an explanation of the continuous pleas- 
urable interest in doing any thing as well as we can do it. 
We may call this the interest of artistic accomplishment, 
and it may be experienced in any activity in which we 
may engage. It may, perhaps, be experienced in the 
highest degree in those occupations that demand the 
highest skill, but it may be experienced in other occupa- 
tions as well. Even though the problem be so simple 
as chopping wood, the one who starts out to be an artist 
can never find such occupation mechanics T he skill re- 
quired to strike exactly in the same place that the ax 
fell upon before is not easily acquired nor easily retained. 
There is always a sufficient amount of resistance in the 
fringe of cells latest to be traversed with ease in the 
acquisition of skill, to furnish a pleasurable interest. 



INTEREST 159 

There is generally, in such cases, a pretty steady balance 
between the forgetting and the learning; between the 
decrease of resistance and the recovery of the former 
condition, so that the process never becomes monotonous, 
nor the feeling one of indifference. 

Interest in Welfare. — Interest in our own welfare, 
both physical and social, is an interest so comprehensive 
that it may be made to include all egoistic feelings and 
a large part of the altruistic. It is presupposed in all dis- 
cussions of interest, and may be made to include more 
than half of all kinds of interests that we can distinguish. 
It may be a pleasurable or a painful interest, and it is 
scarcely worth our while to consider it in any way except 
as a generic interest that includes many groups which we 
may characterize by other names. 
Synopsis. 

1. The Interest people assert that all school work 
should be determined by the interest which children mani- 
fest in it. The Will people consider interest a minor 
matter, and seek justification for their selection of sub- 
jects and methods of teaching in the opportunity afforded 
for the cultivation of the will. The two schools of phil- 
osophers are quite distinctly opposed to each other. 

2. Interest is a feeling, and like other feelings is to 
be explained upon physiological principles, and associated 
with nervous processes. It may be associated with the 
resistance which a nervous impulse encounters in passing 
through a nervous arc. 



160 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

3. Interest is the feeling which accompanies the in- 
tellectual process of the perception of the relation be- 
tween the thing to which we attend and ourselves. 

4. Many kinds of relations indicate many kinds of 
interests. We may become interested in anything and 
everything in the universe, since everything in the uni- 
verse holds some relation to ourselves. 

5. Some of the principal kinds of interest are curios- 
ity, or wonder, exploration, habit, imitation, and artistic 
accomplishment. 



CHAPTER X. 
Imitation. 

Importance of Imitation. — The interest of imitation 
is of so much importance that it demands treatment by 
itself. There is something rather uncomplimentary im- 
plied in the statement that a person is an imitator, or that 
a certain piece of work is an imitation. Notwithstanding 
the uncomplimentary character of such references, imita- 
tion is one of the most important elements in the education 
of children, and in our whole social life. Other things 
being as they are, if it were not for the results of imita- 
tion, it would be impossible to maintain our present civili- 
zation for a single day. 

Effect of Being Original in Language. — Let us sup- 
pose that we should decide to be absolutely original, and 
suppose that we were able to do so. Let us suppose that 
we decide to invent a language of our own, and not to 
imitate the language of others. Suppose we were able to 
invent a language as complex as the English, with as 
many words and modes of expression and new rules of 
grammar. When we had our new language invented, of 
what use would it be? Since no one else would know 
our language, it would be impossible to communicate our 
thought by means of it to any other person, and the very 
purpose for which language is made would be defeated. 

161 



162 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

We should be, as a result of our refusal to imitate, in 
exactly the same condition that the prehuman race was 
before it had become able to use spoken language. 

Illustration from Clothing. — Similarly, if we were to 
refuse to wear the same kind of clothes that other persons 
do, we should deprive ourselves of the advantage of get- 
ting our clothes at the same shop where other clothes 
may be procured. We should find no tailor who could 
make clothes for us, since he knows how to make only 
such clothes as other persons wear. We should be com- 
pelled to invent new ways of making up clothes. If we 
should refuse to imitate others in the kinds of materials 
employed, we should be compelled to discover new 
materials, and to invent new processes for making them 
into fabric. In short, we should deprive ourselves of 
the wisdom which people have been accumulating for 
thousands of years. The same kind of illustration might 
be employed with reference to food, to houses, to amuse- 
ments, or to anything else. We are able to enjoy so 
much of the comforts of life in such abundance merely 
because we are imitators and content to eat the same 
things, to wear the same kind of things, and to enjoy the 
same things that other persons do. 

Imitation Preserves Improvements. — Imitation is the 
conservative force in community life, and tends to pre- 
serve the improvements that have once been made. But 
in order that there shall be improvements and progress, 
there must be change, which is opposed to imitation. This 
tendency to change we may call adaptation, or invention, 



IMITATION 163 

or creation. Nations differ widely in their disposition to 
invent, or to change. A nation that is new, and is not 
hampered by traditions, or old ways of doing things, is 
likely to be very inventive. This is the condition of the 
United States today. Our people generally are inventive, 
not merely in machinery and mechanical devices, but in 
political, religious, and social life. The same thing is 
true of the people of New Zealand and Australia, who are, 
like the United States, adolescent nations. The same 
thing is not true of the people of Europe, and still less 
of the people of Eastern Asia. 

The Chinese were once a highly inventive people. 
Two or three thousand years ago they invented gun- 
powder and the magnetic needle and printing, and 
brought into cultivation almost one-half of all the plants 
that constitute the agricultural production of the world. 
They seem to have lost their power of invention, and to 
have been for a great many years chiefly concerned in 
the preservation of what they have already acquired. 
They are imitative to excess. We have all heard the 
story of the officer of a European vessel in a Chinese 
port, who employed a Chinese tailor to make a uniform 
for him. The tailor did not know how to make the 
European trousers, so the officer furnished him with an 
old pair as a model. He made the new trousers exactly 
as the old ones were made ; and since the, old ones had 
been patched and darned, the Chinese tailor made the 
tear in the knee and put in the patch and the darn. 
So a ladv who had a Chinese cook showed him how to 



164 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

make a cake. The recipe called for three eggs, but one 
of the eggs the lady had at hand was bad. She threw 
it away and used three good eggs. Every time that the 
cook made a cake after that recipe, he employed four 
eggs, three to put into the cake and one to throw away. 

Imitation in Children. — Children are imitative. Imi- 
tation does not appear at first, but manifests itself about 
the age of six to nine months. From that time until the 
child is seven years of age, imitation is nearly the 
strongest interest the child possesses. 

The first actions of a child are not imitative acts. 
They are reflexes and involuntary. He responds by a 
muscular movement to a stimulus ; but the act is not an 
intellectual one, and cannot be inhibited. 

Imitation and Reflex Action. — There is very little 
difference between the first imitative actions of a child 
and the preceding reflexes which involve the same 
muscles. The principal difference is that after a series 
of reflexes, the child comes to recognize that it is his 
muscle which moves in response to the stimulus, and he 
can picture in his mind the movement of the arm or the 
muscle before it is made. This preliminary idea of his 
own movement, however, is the essential difference be- 
tween the voluntary and the involuntary act ; between 
the reflex and the imitation. The act that is pictured can 
be inhibited, if the contrary picture, or the opposing sug- 
gestion is presented. If it is not presented, the action 
follows as inevitably as if it were a reflex instead of 
voluntary act. 



IMITATION 165 

Reflex Passes Through Imitation to Become a Vol- 
untary Act. — This, then, is the way that a reflex act 
passes over into a conscious, voluntary, willed act. When 
a child sees the action of a person, such as the waving 
of a parent's hand, the child has a mental picture of 
his own hand waving. It is in this way that he inter- 
prets and knows the meaning of the action of the other 
person. Until he is able to picture to himself his own 
hand waving, he does not know the meaning of the other 
person's action. The idea of his own hand waving 
furnishes the motive for the action. It is the mental 
antecedent, the conscious motive, to the voluntary act. 
The idea of his own movement comes from his inter- 
pretation of the action which he sees, and so it is that 
the child imitates the action of the person. What is 
imitated is the idea or mental image of the action of the 
other person, which exists in the mind of the child. 

The Physiological Process in Imitation. — It may con- 
duce to clearness of understanding if we try to picture 
the nervous processes that go on in the brain of the 
child at the time of the imitative act. The preceding 
reflexes have been the result of nervous impulses pass- 
ing through the motor center. A connection has already 
been established between the sight center and the motor 
centers as a result of the stimulus setting up a nervous 
impulse in the eye, which has been transmitted to the 
sight center and then has flowed over to the motor cen- 
ters. The resulting movement, which the child has 
seen, has established another impulse in the sight center, 



166 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

so that the sight centers and the motor centers have be- 
come rather closely connected. When the child has 
pictured to himself his own movement, he has established 
a nervous impulse which is centrally initiated, and which' 
has been preceded by such an adjustment of the elements 
of the brain centers as will permit a nervous impulse 
to pass easily. Then a very small impulse from the out- 
side directed into the same brain center will easily pass 
through it and flow over into the associated motor center. 
It is not so likely to flow into the other motor centers, 
because like adjustments have not been made for them. 
This is the meaning of the idea of one's own movement. 
Hence the previous useless reflexes are inhibited, or fail 
to appear, and the imitated act is accomplished with less 
expenditure of nervous energy than the preceding re- 
flexes. 

Every Voluntary Act an Imitation. — Using the word 
imitation in its widest sense, we may say that every 
conscious voluntary action is an imitation of the idea 
which exists in the person's mind. It does not seem, 
however, that this method of looking at an action leads 
to clearer thinking about actions in general, although 
it does emphasize the importance of imitation as an ele- 
ment in education. 

How Imitation Passes into Originality. — The first 
actions of children, even those that are imitative, are 
meaningless. The parent who starts away from home 
and waves good-bye to the baby, fondly imagines that 
the return imitative wave of the baby's hand means 



IMITATION 167 

good-bye, but it does not. It is purely an imitation of 
the action. But there comes a time when the child 
associates the action of the hand with the departure and 
absence of the parent. Then the response ceases to be 
purely imitative, and becomes something more ; or rather, 
there is something more imitated than the action of the 
parent. Later, when the parent goes away, he may not 
wave his hand, but he may say, ''Bye, bye, Baby;" and 
still the baby may respond by the waving of his hand 
as he has previously learned to do on similar occasions. 
Here is an imitation, it is true, but it is the imitation of 
the idea rather than of the action. The same idea is ex- 
pressed by the parent in words which the baby expresses, 
or imitates, by the action of the hand. 

Accidental Variation. — We have now seen how the 
action of the little child is developed from a reflex 
through the imitation of the action to the imitation of the 
idea, and becomes a conscious voluntary act. It is now 
our purpose to inquire how r imitation passes over into 
originality. We may point out at least two ways in 
which this result is brought about. In the first place, 
it is impossible to do a thing twice in exactly the same 
way. The things that constitute the disturbing elements 
are so many and so various and so difficult to trace, that 
we may abandon the attempt to do so, and say that the 
variations are fortuitous, or accidental. Accidental 
variation then, will account for some of the changes in an 
imitated action that enables us to call it an original 
process. 



168 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Purposeful Variation. — Variation of any kind is or- 
iginality, no matter how it may be brought about. Be- 
sides this accidental variation, there may be a purpose- 
ful variation. After an action has been performed a 
good many times, the nervous arc ceases to furnish a 
sufficient amount of resistance to give pleasure, or to 
furnish a pleasurable interest in the doing of the act. 
Hence, in order to experience interest, or pleasure in the 
doing, the person will modify, somewhat, the nervous arc, 
thus throwing new brain cells into the combination, in- 
creasing the resistance, and consequently modifying the 
character of the action. In this way we may account in 
very large measure for the tendency to invention, grow- 
ing out of imitation. 

Imitation in Adults. — We have so far been consider- 
ing the child as imitative, without considering the effect 
of the same quality upon the actions of adults. Grown 
people are quite as truly imitative as are children. The 
difference between adults and children in this respect 
is that adult persons have a large number of ideas, so 
that an inhibitory one is much more likely to appear 
and prevent the imitation than in a child. Hence we 
fail to recognize the imitative character of adult actions. 
But when it is possible to prevent the appearance of 
the inhibiting idea, persons manifest their imitativeness 
very clearly. When one person in a company yawns, 
it will be a very short time before nearly everybody in 
the company will yawn, unless the inhibiting suggestion 
is given. When a person stares up into the sky, as if 



IMITATION 169 

lie were looking for an airship or an angel, it is likely 
that everybody passing near him will glance up into the 
sky, or even stop to gaze in the same direction. It may 
be that he saw nothing at all, but in the absence of the 
inhibiting suggestion, people will imitate his actions. 

Importance of Imitation in School. — We have been 
studying the psychology of imitation, but it is necessary 
for us to consider the practical importance of this in- 
terest to the teacher. The child who starts into school 
at the age of six learns nearly everything in his first 
year by imitation. The teacher undertakes to teach him 
how to write a word. She says, "Write it in this way" — 
putting a copy on the board. Indeed in no other way 
could the child be taught to write. If the teacher were 
unable to write, it would be a difficult matter for her to 
teach the children, even though she might have a good 
intellectual knowledge of the process itself. The same 
thing is true in reading. The child imitates the sound 
of the word as the teacher pronounces it, and associates 
the sound of the word with the printed character. Read- 
ing, writing, drawing, and the exercises that are intended 
to develop the number concept are all imitative exercises. 

Other Things Learned by Imitation. — But the child 
learns other things than his lessons by imitation. He 
imitates the speech of the teacher, the grammatical forms, 
the tricks of pronunciation, the peculiarities of manner, 
the manner of rising up and sitting down. Everything 
that the teacher does is imitated by the children. We see 
how important it is, then, that the teacher shall be ex- 



170 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

actly the proper person to be imitated by these copyists. 
It has sometimes been suggested that we over-emphasize 
the importance of the primary teacher, but when we 
consider the effect of imitation, it seems almost impossi- 
ble to do so. 

Imitation of the Bad. — The child imitates not merely 
the teacher, but he imitates his classmates and his play- 
mates. He imitates their habits of speech, their methods 
of acting and their ideas. It has been remarked that 
the child is likely to imitate the bad rather than the 
good, and there seems to be a good deal of justification 
for that opinion. There is also a clearly indicated reason 
why such should be the case, although it is by no means 
an evidence of total depravity on the part of the child. 

The Good Beyond the Child's Stage of Development. 
— The good is something that is in the nature of an 
improvement and is more nearly in conformity to the 
standard of conduct adopted by adult society than is the 
bad. It represents a standard of social development 
that has been attained by society through hundreds of 
years of slow progression. The bad represents a stage 
of conduct existing in the less developed society of the 
past. The child is in a stage of development that cor- 
responds to the past experience of the race, rather than 
to the present higher development of it. The bad, then, 
is more nearly in accordance with his present stage of 
development than is the good, and it is easier for him 
to act in accordance with the bad standard than with 
the good. The good is something in the nature of an 



IMITATION 171 

improvement and a development of character. The bad 
is something in the nature of a lack of development. 
The child, in school at least, is progressing and is moving 
away from a less developed to a more developed state. 
The good is something that he has not yet grown up to. 
Hence he is more nearly affiliated in his development with 
the undeveloped condition which we call bad, than he is 
with the more fully developed condition that we call 
good. 

Imitative Plays. — If we observe the plays of children, 
we shall see that before the age of seven years, with 
the exception of sense plays, much the larger number 
are imitative plays. Children play house, and play store, 
and play school. We observe the bizarre and strange 
imitations, sometimes, such as the imitations of circus 
and funerals and executions and butcherings ; but imita- 
tions of the less rare and the common occupations of 
adult life .are played by the children so frequently that 
they fail to attract attention, and we neglect their consid- 
eration. They constitute much the larger number of 
children's plays. Sometimes it seems necessary for chil- 
dren to imitate these occupations before they can organ- 
ize them in their minds. 

Dramatisation in School. — This leads to a considera- 
tion of the exercise in school that is known as dramatiza- 
tion. Dramatization means expression in action of the 
stories that have been read by the children or told to 
them. Such stories as Cock Robin, Little Miss Muflet, 
Bo Peep, Little Boy Blue, The Falling Leaves, are 



172 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

favorite stories for dramatization. The reasons advanced 
for dramatization are of three kinds: First, that it is 
a play for children and interests them very much. We 
may allow this to be the case. Children do dramatize, 
or "play and act out" the stories that they have read, 
on their own initiative and without any teaching. How- 
ever, dramatization is advocated for its educative value 
rather than for the pleasure that it gives to the childern; 
hence it is from the educative standpoint that we must 
consider it. 

Dramatisation a Means of Expression. — The second 
reason is that children find in dramatization a means of 
expression. They express the thought of the stories in 
action. This is undoubtedly true, although it may be true 
without furnishing sufficient reason for introducing 
dramatization into the school exercises as an educative 
process. This argument for dramatization might take 
the following form: Thought is impossible without ex- 
pression, and the more complete the expression the better 
will the thought be organized. The child needs to ex- 
press the same thought in as many ways as possible. He 
may express it in words, both spoken and written. He 
may express it in material by making the object that 
will correspond to the thought, if it is the thought of a 
material object. He may express it in drawing, as some 
things are best adapted to such expression. He may 
express it in action, and this is the most effective means 
of expression and altogether the most satisfactory, when 
the thought is a series of events, or an account of an 



IMITATION 173 

action. The form of expression that is most satisfactory 
in any particular case depends upon the nature of the 
thing that is thought. If it is a story of occurrences, 
then action is the most satisfactory form of expression, 
and is the form that will most efficiently help the child 
to organize his thought. 

More than this, it may be said that thought is im- 
possible without some form of muscular movement which 
constitutes the expression. With little children, the 
larger movements that influence the whole body are more 
efficient means of assisting thought than are the smaller 
movements employed in speaking. 

Reply to the Argument. — To this it may be replied 
that the children have already learned to express the 
thought in words. If we teach them to express the same 
thought in action after they have learned to express it in 
words, we are encouraging a lower form of expression 
and placing less value upon the higher. Speech is a 
higher form of expression than is action, and it is 
farther removed from the primitive form. Children are 
capable of expressing quite accurately their thoughts in 
actions long before they can express them in words. A 
father heard a cry from his two-year-old child. He came 
down stairs and said, "What's the matter, Baby?" The 
baby pointed to his mother, saying, " 'm — 'm'm — ," then 
viciously spatted his hands together, leaving no doubt 
in the mind of the father what was the occasion of the 
baby's cry. 

Action a Primitive Form of Expression, — The race 



174 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

employed action to express thought long before language 
was invented, and action is a form of expression pecu- 
liarly appropriate for children in the prehuman stage. 
So great was the change from action to speech as a 
means of expression that we employ it to mark the sepa- 
ration between the human and the prehuman condition 
of the race. It would therefore seem that in dramatiza- 
tion we are encouraging a lower form of expression to 
the discouragement of the higher. It would seem that 
we were undertaking to assist the children to overcome 
the advantages of civilization. 

Example of Teachers of the Deaf. — Perhaps the 
practice of the teachers of the deaf has some relation to 
this discussion. It is the constant effort of teachers of 
the deaf to prevent the expression of thought by action, 
or sign language. They act upon the principle that if 
the deaf children are encouraged or permitted to use 
the language of action, it will be distinctly detrimental 
to their progress in oral expression. The wisdom of the 
teachers of the deaf may be questioned, but their prac- 
tice is rather opposed to the principle involved in drama- 
tization. 

Dramatization Clarifies Thought. — The third reason 
advanced in justification of dramatization in school is 
that it clarifies the thought of the children and makes 
more real to them the thought already secured. It is 
by action that the child organizes the thought into his 
own consciousness, and he can do this better through 
his muscular activity than merely by means of words. 



IMITATION 175 

Reply to the Argument. — In opposition to this view 
it is argued that the child already has the thought in mind 
which he wishes to express in action, and that he cannot 
express it in action any more clearly than he has it in 
mind. Dramatic action is inevitably hampered by many 
material limitations. A person who can read, and who 
is able to picture to himself the actions that are ex- 
pressed in words is not limited in his thought by these 
material conditions. Hence it is that the intelligent 
reader is likely to have a more adequate interpretation of 
the thought than that which is obtained by the best 
dramatic representation. Dramatic rendering of plays is 
more likely to be popular with those who cannot read 
adequately than with those who can. Shakespeare's 
plays were more popular with the unlettered populace 
of his time than they are today, although many people 
read them with great appreciation. 

When Justified. — There is likely to be something of 
a sense of disappointment when we see a dramatic inter- 
pretation of a play with which we are already familiar 
through reading which does not occur if we have not read 
it. If a dramatic rendering of a story leads to a higher 
conception of the thought than can be obtained without 
it, then dramatization is helpful and fully justified. But 
if a child has already obtained a fairly adequate notion 
of the story, then the interpretation of it in any manner 
that will cause a fall or drop in his conception is not 
helpful, but harmful. Few people would expect to have 
their conception of the tragedy on Calvary intensified 



176 PRINCIPLES OP TEACHING 

by a dramatic rendition of the circumstances, and Mil- 
ton's Battle in Heaven would be but a burlesque when 
acted out under material limitations. It may be that 
children's dramatizations are susceptible to the same criti- 
cisms. 

Unconscious Imitation. — Imitation is not always con- 
scious imitation. In fact, it is seldom so. The action 
that is seen is generally imitated unconsciously. When 
a person is watching a game of baseball or football, his 
muscles undergo the same contractions, in slight degrees 
only, of course, as do the muscles of the players. So at 
the conclusion of an exciting game the spectator is fre- 
quently almost as tired as are the players. A person who 
looks at a statue, involuntarily and of necessity puts 
himself into the attitude of the figure, and expresses by 
that involuntary attitude the thoughts and emotions which 
the figure represents. If the figure represents a vigorous 
action, the movement of the muscles and the posture of 
the body are quite noticeably in conformity with that of 
the figure. What is really imitated is the thought in the 
mind of the observer which the figure arouses in him. 
If a person should misinterpret a figure, and perceive in 
it an expression of joy, while the artist's intention was to 
represent extreme anguish, the mistaken observer would 
imitate the joyous attitude. 

Imitation of Ideas Read. — The ideas aroused in the 
mind by reading are imitated in some slight degree in 
every case. Hence the importance of reading good books 
and of refusing to read bad or indifferent ones; for the 



IMITATION \77 

ideas that the books express will be imitated in some 
slight degree and will modify the character of the reader. 
In fact, we have here a standard of judging whether a 
book is good or bad. 

Example of the Great Stone Face. — We have an 
admirable example of unconscious imitation and its re- 
sults in Hawthorne's story of the Great Stone Face. 
Here was a boy who had looked for years upon the 
majesty of the Great Stone Face and who had eagerly 
watched for the man who should represent in his features 
and in his character the ideas which the Great Stone 
Face expressed. Year after year he had gazed upon 
the face, and his thoughts had involuntarily conformed to 
those which it expressed. At length, after many disap- 
pointments, the neighbors observed that Ernest himself 
was the man who so closely resembled the Great Stone 
Face. His contemplation of the face for so many years 
and his unconscious imitation of the ideas which the face 
expressed had molded his features into the likeness of the 
expression that existed upon the face. 

School Surroundings Imitated. — We have in this fact 
of unconscious imitation the reason for making the school 
surroundings as good as it is possible to have them. The 
school represents the ideals and ideas of the community. 
Every article of furniture, every element in the archi- 
tecture of the building, every item of decoration on its 
walls, every portion of the school grounds and the school 
surroundings expresses the idea of somebody, and that 
idea will be imitated by the children, and will modify 



178 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

their character. Hence it is necessary that the ideas 
which the school surroundings express shall be of such 
a nature as will make their imitation advantageous. 

Imitate What is Admired. — The child is very suscepti- 
ble to suggestion. He imitates most readily that which 
he most admires ; for admiration is a feeling of kinship 
with himself, and is a form of interest. The teacher can 
contribute somewhat to the efficiency of imitation by 
leading the pupils to admire the good and to dislike the 
bad. Children imitate best what they most admire, or 
that with which they feel the nearest relationship. 

Synopsis. 

1. Imitation is the most important interest in child- 
hood, and is the one upon which the primary teacher 
must principally depend. 

2. The first actions of children are reflexes, but by 
the : process of imitation they pass over into conscious 
voluntary actions. 

3. The child learns to interpret the actions and ideas 
of other persons by a process of imitation. Ideas may be 
imitated. It is a proper use of the word in a very ex- 
tended sense, to say that every purposive action is the 
imitation of an idea entertained by the actor. 

4. Imitation passes over into originality, or creation, 
by two processes ; first, accidental variation ; second, by 
intentional variation, for the purpose of increasing the 
pleasant feeling. 

5. Children imitate the bad rather than the good, 



IMITATION 179 

because the bad is something that is not so far removed 
as the good from their present condition of development. 
The good is something that approximates more nearly 
to the ideals of older people, hence, is farther removed 
from the present stage of development of the child. 

6. The principles of imitation must enter into the 
discussion of the utility of dramatization, good reading, 
and development of character. 



CHAPTER XL 
Apperception. 

Herbartian Conception of Mind. — Apperception 
means the process by which a new idea is joined to 
old ideas and a new thing is learned. The discussion 
of apperception, therefore, involves an understanding of 
the whole learning process. The word is adopted from 
the philosophical utterances of the German philosopher 
Herbart, and in order to understand his explanation of 
the term, we must know something of his conception of 
the mind. Other psychologists had regarded the mind 
as an active thing capable of doing something of itself ; 
but Herbart regarded it as inactive. He thought of the 
mind under the figure of a room, into which and out of 
which ideas, which are the active things, came and went. 
Ideas are in the mind or out of the mind, and our com- 
mon habit of speech corresponds to this notion of the 
relation of ideas to the mind. 

The Threshold of Consciousness. — When an idea 
comes into the mind, it is said to rise above the threshold 
of consciousness. This is one of the Herbartian phrases 
which it is necessary for us to understand before we can 
read Herbartian literature readily. The figure assumes 
that the ideas come into the mind from below, as through 
a floor by means of a trap door. When an idea is in the 

180 



APPERCEPTION 181 

mind we are conscious of it, and when it is out of the 
mind we are unconscious of it. It is said to rise above 
the threshold of consciousness, or to sink below the 
threshold. 

Related Ideas. — When an idea rises above the thresh- 
old of consciousness, it immediately looks around for 
acquaintances. If it finds none, it has difficulty in main- 
taining its position, and is very likely to be thrust out 
of the mind into outer darkness by the other ideas, or 
to sink below the threshold of consciousness, never to 
appear, or to reappear only after a very long time. If, 
however, the new idea finds many intimate friends and 
close relatives, it immediately attaches itself to them, 
forms a close connection, and coheres firmly with them ; 
and is with difficulty thrust out. It is maintained in the 
mind by the power and influence of its friends and family 
connections. 

Focus of Consciousness. — Every idea in the mind is 
a competitor with every other idea ; or, it would perhaps 
be better to say, every family group of ideas in the mind 
which cohere closely with each other, is a competitor with 
every other family group. Not all places in the mind are 
equally desirable, nor of equal value. They are like the 
seats at a baseball game. As soon as an idea has come 
into the mind and formed a connection with its friends 
and relatives, it immediately begins to push for the most 
advantageous position in the front row of seats in the 
grand stand. If its family group is sufficiently numer- 
ous and powerful, they drag it up to the front row. If 



182 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

its family group is not very strong, it is likely to find 
itself put away off into the left field bleachers, providing 
it is not ejected from the ball grounds entirely. 

The Ap perceiving Mass. — In Herbartian English, we 
may say that some idea is constantly in the focus of con- 
sciousness, while other ideas are in the fringe. We see 
that the position which the new idea secures depends 
largely upon the number and strength of the group of 
its relatives, and the closeness of the connection it is 
enabled to form with them. This group of related ideas 
with which the new idea coheres, and by means of which 
it is enabled to maintain its position in the mind is called 
the ap perceiving mass. It is evident that some one or 
more of the ideas in the apperceiving mass will be more 
closely related to the new than will others, and 
that it will form the closest connection with that one, 
or with those that are most nearly related to it. So we 
see that the larger the apperceiving mass, the greater 
the probability that there will be some one idea with 
which the new can form a close connection, and to which 
it can cohere most firmly. This emphasizes the impor- 
tance of a large apperceiving mass. 

Illustration. — This discussion of the apperceiving mass 
indicates for us the real process of learning, and sug- 
gests why some things are learned so much more readily 
than others. A dressmaker, or some other person who 
is accustomed to observing women's costumes could see 
as much in a minute about a woman's costume at church 
as could a student of entomology in a month. But the 



APPERCEPTION 183 

student of entomology would probably manifest an equally 
decided superiority over the dressmaker if the object to 
be observed were a grasshopper or some other member 
of a group of insects. The dressmaker would have a 
very large apperceiving mass of ideas about women's 
costumes, while the entomologist would have a very small 
one. In the case of the grasshopper, the condition of 
the apperceiving mass would be directly reversed. We 
learn most easily about that of which we already know 
the most. Knowledge attracts related knowledge to it- 
self. In undertaking a new subject it is the beginning 
that is always difficult. 

Modification of a New Idea. — When a new idea comes 
into the mind, the group of related ideas at once proceeds 
to modify it. All of them proceed to change it in some 
way, and usually they succeed, and so the new idea is 
assimilated to the old ones. It is true that the new idea 
also modifies the old ones to a certain extent ; but usually 
the old ideas are so much more numerous and so much 
stronger that the effect which the new idea produces 
upon the mass of old ones is so small as to be inap- 
preciable. Occasionally, however, the new idea is so 
strong and masterful in its nature that it changes the 
entire apperceiving mass more than the apperceiving 
mass can change it, and then we say that the person has 
been converted. Conversion is a term that is commonly 
employed in a religious sense, but it is properly applied 
to every process by which the opinion of a person is 
changed, 



184 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Criticisms of the Doctrine of Apperception.— -There 
are two valid criticisms upon the Herbartian statement 
of the doctrine of apperception. The first, that it is 
highly figurative, and like any other figure, it may be 
carried very easily beyond the point where it is service- 
able, and then it is likely to hinder rather than help 
our thinking. In the second place it is altogether me- 
chanical and static rather than dynamic. No one really 
believes that anything like what the figure supposes ac- 
tually occurs. No one supposes that there is a real room 
for the mind, nor a real threshold, nor that ideas really 
cohere, nor that they form an apperceiving mass. When 
any figure of this kind is carried far enough, it breaks 
down under its own weight. This conception of the 
mind fails to take into consideration the developments 
of psychology that have been made in the past hundred 
years ; and so it is lacking in some very important ap- 
proximations to truth that may now be made. 

Physiological Processes Involved. — It appears that a 
very much better statement of all that is valuable in the 
Herbartian doctrine of apperception may be made by 
applying a physiological figure. We know that every 
mental process is accompanied by a corresponding physi- 
ological change', which always consists of a nervous 
impulse passing through a nervous arc. What the na- 
ture of the connection may be between the mental process 
and the physiological change, whether one is the cause 
of the other, or whether both are caused by some third 
thing we cannot state. But we may be safe in assert- 



APPERCEPTION 185 

ing that whatever relation one such physiological process 
holds to other physiological processes of this kind, the 
same relation will obtain between the corresponding men- 
tal processes. 

A new idea gets into the mind through the senses. 
Force, originating in, or modified by, some object sets 
up an impulse in the end organ of the sensory nerve. 
The impulse is transmitted to its appropriate brain center, 
with which the sensory nerve is connected. The mental 
concomitant is a sensation, which is one of the ele- 
ments of the percept formed by a combination of 
several sensations experienced at the same time and 
modified by each other. When this percept is reproduced 
without the previous peripherally initiated impulses ac- 
companying it we may call it an idea. The idea, properly 
so called, is not accompanied by a peripherally initiated 
impulse, but only centrally initiated ones, which traverse 
a combination of brain ceils which we may call center 

1. Let us suppose that there is another brain center or 
combination of brain cells, which we may call center 

2, closely connected with brain center 1. We may sup- 
pose that some of the cells which constitute center 1 are 
the same cells which constitute a portion of center 2. 
When an impulse traverses combination 1, it is easily 
diverted into combination 2, since some of the cells of 1 
belong also to combination 2. When 2 is traversed by an 
impulse, a different idea is experienced from that which 
is experienced when 1 is traversed. In like man- 
ner we may suppose that other combinations of 



186 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

brain cells, 3, 4. 5, 6; 7, 8, 9 are connected 
with 1 or 2 or with each other, so that an impulse 
starting in any one of them is likely to be transmitted 
through all of them with little resistance, or without 
being thrown into brain centers that are unconnected 
with the first. This group of cells designated by 1 may 
be considered as corresponding to the simple perception, 




Circles \o SWcim (Xs^oc'vdX ton- 



Circles Showing Physiological Processes Involved. 

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 represent the related ideas, or the 
apperceiving mass. The figure on this page shows the 
centers of the apperceiving mass as closely approximate 
in space, but it is not necessary that this should be so. 
It is necessary only that they should be so connected as 
to offer little resistance to the transmission of an im- 
pulse from one to the other. Two centers may be the 



APPERCEPTION 187 

full length of the brain apart, but so connected by asso- 
ciation fibres that the impulse readily passes from one 
to the other, and the effect may be as satisfactory as 
if they were closely approximate and had some cells in 
common. 

Apperception Described in Physiological Terms. — 
We thus discover in our physiological hypothesis some- 
thing to correspond to every element of the Herbartian 
figure, without involving any of the manifest absurdities 
which it employs. The new idea corresponds to the new 
combination of brain cells which is traversed for the 
first time by a nervous impulse. It may be that 
these same brain cells have entered into other 
combinations before, but the nervous impulse passes 
through them in a new combination. The apperceiving 
mass corresponds to the different brain centers, or com- 
binations of brain cells that have cells in common with 
the new combination or which are closely connected with 
it in some way. The idea rises above the threshold of 
consciousness when the nervous impulse traverses that 
particular combination of brain cells. The idea is modi- 
fied by the old ideas, since the specific direction that 
the nervous impulse takes in passing through the brain 
center is determined in part by the previous experience 
of the cells that are traversed in their new combination. 
Sensations that are experienced at the same time, or that 
are related by simultaneous association, modify each 
other, as we can see in contrasted colors or tastes ; and 
the same thing is true of percepts and ideas. The mind is 



188 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

not a room, but it is the sum of all mental processes 
which we experience, and these mental processes have 
their physiological concomitants in the nervous impulses 
which are transmitted at the same time. 

Advantage of the Physiological Interpretation. — The 
advantage of this physiological interpretation of appercep- 
tion is that something of this kind must actually occur. 
The difference between what we have supposed to occur 
and what actually does occur is the fact that the actual 
occurrences are probably a hundred times as complex 
as what we assumed them to be. 

Results of Discussion of Apperception. — The intro- 
duction of the word apperception into the educational 
discussions of this country . contributed little to the im- 
provement of thought upon educational processes. Every- 
thing of value in the idea of apperception was already 
expressed by such terms as mental assimilation, mental 
association, and kindred words. The discussions that 
followed the introduction of the word, however, were of 
the greatest service. In the first place, the study of 
the process now known as apperception has compelled 
us to modify materially the statement of some of our 
best established educational maxims. We have heard 
it said that in the process of teaching or learning we 
should go from the known to the unknown. In conse- 
quence of our study of apperception, we know now that 
we must proceed from the known to the related un- 
known. The emphasis is thrown upon the word "related." 
for there is no real value in going from the known to 



APPERCEPTION 189 

the unknown if the unknown is unrelated to the known. 
We may know well the theorem about the square upon 
the hypotenuse, but it is of no assistance in learning the 
unknown about the temperature of the carboniferous age. 
The unknown that we must reach is the unknown that 
is related to the known. 

Effect of Apperception Upon Formal Discipline. — 
In the second place, the discussion of apperception has 
been disastrous to the doctrine of formal discipline, or 
mental discipline as an aim in education (See page 70). 
The theory of formal discipline is that if the mind be- 
comes well trained in the study of one thing, the power 
so gained is perfectly available for the learning of any- 
thing else. We know now that this is not true. The 
power to learn a new thing depends upon the amount 
and character of the apperceiving mass. If this apper- 
ceiving mass is a mass of unrelated ideas, it does not 
assist at all in learning the new. If the brain centers 
traversed when learning one thing are not closely con- 
nected with the brain centers that are traversed by im- 
pulses which accompany the mental processes involved 
in learning a new thing, then the experiences of the 
first brain centers will not facilitate in the least the 
traversing of the new combinations of brain cells in- 
volved in learning the new. The study of Latin may 
assist in learning a new language, but it will not materi- 
ally forward the learning of the principles of architecture, 
nor the methods of assaying. 

Method of Learning. — Third, the discussion of ap- 



190 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

perception has shown us the true method of learning 
anything. The new thing is learned by relating it to 
something already known. It is a mistake to learn a 
new thing as if it were unrelated to everything else in 
the universe. All knowledge is relative, and the rela- 
tions in which it exists must be perceived if we are 
to learn things well. 

What is Meant by Relation. — We have been using 
this principle of relativity so much and shall have oc- 
casion to use it further to such an extent that it seems 
necessary for us to have a clear understanding of what 
it means. We can best approach the meaning of relativity 
by going back to the laws of association. The words 
which express relation in our language are especially 
the prepositions ; aboard, about, above, across, after, 
against, along, etc., through all the long list that our 
grammars give. Each of these words expresses a rela- 
tion that can be exhibited by holding one object in some 
position relative to another. The position that one holds 
with reference to another is an exemplification of rela- 
tion. 

Phenomena of Association. — If we should select any 
word such as "watch," and write down immedi- 
ately after thinking of that word the succession of 
words that appear to us, without trying to make any 
selection, we should find that our list of successive words 
are related to each other in ways that we might describe. 
Thus if we should follow the word "watch" with nine 
others, we might have a list such as the following: 



APPERCEPTION 191 

Watch, works, case, gold, mine, rock, drill, bore, tunnel, 
Hoosac, canal, Panama, The relation between watch 
and works is that of part and whole. The relation be- 
tween works and case is container and the thing con- 
tained. The relation between case and gold is that of 
object and material of which it is made. The relation 
between gold and mine is that of substance (or material) 
and source or origin. So we may discover and state 
the relation between any two of the different pairs of 
words. 

Lazvs of Association. — Older psychologists undertook 
to state a complete list of these Laws of Association, 
as they called them. We know now that a law of asso- 
ciation is a statement of the relation existing between 
two things or ideas, and that there are as many laws 
of association as there are relations existing between 
things. It follows that a complete list of laws of asso- 
ciation is impossible, but the lists that were made will 
help us to an understanding of what is meant by relation. 

Enumeration of Lazvs. — Some of the laws of asso- 
ciation that were stated were as follows : Contiguity, 
coexistence, similarity, contrast, cause and effect, part 
and whole, substance and quality. The law of contiguity 
means that when the idea of one thing comes into the 
mind it is likely to be followed by the idea of another 
thing that has existed or been experienced in the same 
place. The law of coexistence means that when the 
idea of one thing comes into the mind it is likely to be 
followed by the idea of some, other thing that has been 



192 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

experienced at the same time. The idea of contrast 
means that when the idea of one thing comes into the 
mind it is likely to he followed by the idea of another 
thing as different as possible from the first. 

Reduction of All Laws to a Single One. — The at- 
tempt was often made to reduce these laws of association 
to a single law, or to a single principle of association, 
and with a considerable degree of success. The law of 
contiguity is believed by some to be broad enough to 
cover all forms of association, while others believe that 
the law of similarity can be extended until it is broad 
enough to cover all cases. It really seems as if we could 
show that by extending the meaning of the word resem- 
blance, we might make it broad enough to cover every 
form of association, and to include all laws of associa- 
tion and all kinds of relation under the term. The law 
of contiguity can be so reduced. Two things that are 
contiguous resemble each other in their position, or 
spatial situation. Two things that coexist resemble each 
other in the characteristic of time. The law of contrast 
would seem to be the most difficult to bring under this 
law of resemblance, for contrast means the farthest pos- 
sible away from resemblance. A tall man suggests a 
short man, and we can show that the relation is one of 
resemblance. In the first place, the tall man is like the 
short man in the fact that both of them differ from the 
ordinary man, who is neither tall nor short. They have 
this resemblance, that they are both unlike the average 
man. Then, in the second place, they are both men 



APPERCEPTION 193 

and the relation of contrast is possible only between 
two beings of the same order of existence. A siphon 
and psychology are scarcely capable of forming a con- 
trasting pair. 

The Lazvs of Resemblance. — In some such way as 
this we may find it possible to reduce all laws of asso- 
ciation and all forms of relation to a single form, which 
by enlarging somewhat the meaning of the term, we 
may call resemblance. Hence we may say that by rela- 
tion we mean the resemblance that one thing bears to 
another. The perception, then, of relation is the per- 
ception of a resemblance, or the perception of the way 
in which one thing is like another. If we can realize 
this conception of relation it will be of very great as- 
sistance to us in understanding the processes of think- 
ing and of teaching. 

Physiological Interpretation of Resemblance. — Physi- 
ologically, we may express relation in terms of nervous 
impulse. Two ideas are related to each other when the 
same nervous impulse passes from the brain center that 
is traversed when we experience one idea, directly into 
the brain center that is traversed when we experience 
the other idea. Let us draw two circles that intersect. 
Let one, circle A, represent the combination of brain 
cells that is traversed by an impulse when we experience 
the idea a. Let the other circle, B, represent the combi- 
nation of brain cells that is traversed by an impulse 
when we experience the idea b. The common section, x, 
will represent the brain cells that are common to the 



194 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

two cell combinations or brain centers. It will represent 
the element of resemblance between the two ideas, and 
it will show why, when the nervous impulse is passing 
through one brain center, it is easy for it to enter into 
and traverse the other brain center or combination of 
cells. The greater the common segment, the greater 
the resemblance between the the two ideas, and the more 
easily the second mental experience follows the first. 

Definition of Reading. — With this digression con- 
cerning the nature of relation, let us return to our con- 
sideration of the modifications in educational thought 
that have been produced by the discussion of appercep- 
tion. The fourth change that has been brought about 
is a change in our definition of reading. An early defi- 
nition of reading declared it to consist of the pronun- 
ciation of words on the printed page. This definition 
was confessedly inaccurate, although it is still realized 
in practice in many places today. A better definition 
was that reading is talking from a book. This was in- 
tended to emphasize naturalness of expression. Then 
we were told that reading is getting the thought of the 
author from the printed page and expressing it; or 
expressing the thought of the author. But no two per- 
sons get the same thought from the printed page, and it 
is probable that neither of them gets the thought that 
the author had. They have different apperceiving mass- 
es, and the ideas that are awakened in them are modified 
in accordance with the apperceiving mass which each 
one possesses. So we may see that the thought which 



APPERCEPTION 195 

is obtained is not the author's thought, but it is the 
reader's thought. 

We see that in the light of our discussion of apper- 
ception, we must define reading as expressing the thought 
that is aroused in us by the words of the printed page. 
It is our own thought that is expressed, and not the 
author's thought. It may even be very different from the 
author's thought. 

Importance of Apperceiving Mass. — We are ready 
also to understand what is meant by saying that we get 
from a book only that which we take to it. If we have 
no related ideas, we get nothing from reading a book, 
although we may know the meaning of every word that 
is used. We interpret everything that we read in terms 
of our own apperceiving mass. If our apperceiving 
mass is very large, we shall be able to interpret very 
fully what we get from a book. If our apperceiving 
mass is small, we shall get but little from our reading 
of the book. Whether we get much or little depends 
upon whether our apperceiving mass is large or small. 

Ilustrdtion of Apperception. — There was once a little 
girl very precocious in the matter of sewing. She made 
doll dresses and was skillful with her needle. It had 
been snowing, and going out of the house she gathered 
some snow from the ledge just above the base board. 
She was eating the snow before the fire when some one 
asked, "Alice, where did you get the snow?" She re- 
plied, "O, I got it off of the tuck of the house." Just 
so it is that we interpret all of our knowledge by means 
of that which we alreadv know. 



196 principles of teaching 

Synopsis. 

1. Apperception is a process by which new knowledge 
is joined to the old. A study of apperception leads us 
to an understanding of the whole learning process. 

2. The discussion of apperception has changed some 
of our most important educational maxims, has largely 
destroyed our faith in the possibility of a general men- 
tal discipline, and has modified our definition of read- 
ing. 

3. It is possible and advantageous to understand ap- 
perception in physiological terms rather than in the 
terms of the Herbartian psychology. 



CHAPTER XII. 
The Problem of Teaching Children How to Study. 

Importance of Study. — Teachers are constantly ad- 
vised to teach their children how to study. It is, per- 
haps, the most difficult matter which they have to con- 
sider. When a child has learned how to study, there is 
little else that the school can do for him, except to fur- 
nish him with opportunities, appliances to employ, and 
favorable conditions for his mental and moral growth. 

Improvements in the Process. — There have been many 
marked improvements in teaching. But all the improve- 
ments that have been made in teaching seem to consist 
of some modification of the teacher's duties, and not any 
change in what the pupil is expected to do. It is really 
a question whether the children in school today study 
any better than did the children of twenty-five years 
ago, and in some respects it may be doubted if tbey 
study as well. 

Analysis of the Study Process. — All of us have 
learned how to study more or less satisfactorily, although 
some can study better than others. We have learned in 
a haphazard manner without any special instruction in 
the matter. We have probably not even stopped to 
analyze the process, so that when we undertake to teach 

197 



198 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

our children how to study we find ourselves unable to 
do so. The first thing for us to do is to analyze the 
process of studying, and then we shall be better pre- 
pared to teach our pupils. 

Explanation of Study. — Study is something that the 
pupil must do, and not an activity of the teacher. It 
is a self-directed activity of the child. By study, the 
child gains knowledge. When we see an object or an 
event, a mental process is established that corresponds 
to the external event or object. But the setting up of 
the correspondence is not in itself knowledge. When 
I turn away and am able to reproduce the mental process 
which corresponds to the external event, then I say that 
I know it. It seems that knowledge demands the rein- 
statement of this previous mental experience and consists 
in the recognition of this correspondence. 

Mental Discipline a Result of Study. — But study may 
result in something else than knowledge. A thing may 
be learned with a certain degree of difficulty, and a second 
thing with a less degree, in consequence of the change 
in mental conditions produced by the learning of the first. 
This effect by which a second thing is learned more 
easily than the first is what is meant by mental discipline. 
We have seen that mental discipline as an end in ed- 
ucation must be discredited, but there is a very real 
sense in which mental discipline occurs. The second 
thing is learned more easily if it is related to the first. 
If, however, the second thing is not related to the first, 
then it is not more easily learned. 



PIOW TO STUDY 199 

Physiological Interpretation of Mental Discipline. — 
This effect of study which we call mental discipline is 
the result of nervous habit. It is physiological rather 
than mental. There is more reason for believing that the 
change in nerve cells is the cause of the increased facil- 
ity in learning the second thing than that the physiologi- 
cal process is the cause of the mental process involved 
in learning the first thing. A nervous impulse is trans- 
mitted through a given combination of brain cells more 
easily the second time than it was the first. The change 
is without any question a change in the physiological 
constitution of the nervous arc. Mental discipline re- 
solves itself into physiological habit. Study, then, is 
the self-directed activity of the child that results in 
knowledge and in mental discipline, or physiological 
habit. 

Study Not Limited to Books. — The term study is 
sometimes limited to the learning of things from books. 
It is difficult to convince a teacher who has spent ten 
years of his life in teaching subjects that constantly in- 
volve laboratory work that his classes in all that time 
were not studying. On the walls of Agassiz's school 
barn at Penikese was placed the motto, "Study nature, 
not books." It is just as important to know things and 
to know how to study them, as it is to study books, and 
there are other objects of study than either things or 
books. We must study books, but we must also study 
things and we must study pictures. Three different 
kinds of study are easily discriminated, and these do 



200 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

not exhaust the list, although these three are of especial 
importance to teachers. 

First Process in Studying. — Let us examine first the 
process of studying a book. Suppose that we have a 
lesson to learn from a book, such as a history lesson or 
a lesson in grammar. The first thing to do is, evidently, 
to read it over. There is a difference between reading 
and studying. When we read a history lesson we are 
studying ; when we read a dime novel or a story in a 
magazine, we are merely reading. The difference is that 
in studying we attend more earnestly, and put a greater 
amount of nervous energy into the process than when 
we merely read. Study is work. It demands active 
attention, and there is effort involved in the process. It 
may not always be accompanied by pleasurable feelings, 
nor always by unpleasant feelings. The tone of the 
feeling makes no difference in determining whether our 
activity is studying or reading. The end desired by 
study is the learning of the matter of the book. 

Reading and Study. — Reading is play. There is little 
or no effort involved in it. It demands only spontan- 
eous attention, and the reading is the compensation in 
itself. We read for the pleasure to be derived from 
the process itself. In England, the term read is often 
used in the sense in which we use the word study. A 
person says that he is reading at such or such college. 
He says perhaps he is reading algebra, meaning that 
he is studying algebra. We have a similar use of the 
term in this country, which, however, is less common than 



HOW TO STUDY 201 

it formerly was, when we say that a person is reading 
law, or reading medicine. We mean by this that he is 
studying the things which it is necessary for him to 
know in order to become a lawyer or a physician. This 
use of the word is disappearing, probably in conse- 
quence of the fact that the study of medicine and of law 
is no longer so largely confined to the study of books. 

Second Process in Studying. — The second step in 
the process of studying is to remember what has been 
read. This may be done in two ways. The words of 
the book may be remembered, or the ideas expressed 
may be remembered and translated into the words of the 
pupil. Some teachers demand of their pupils that they 
commit to memory the words of the text. Although 
this practice is not so common as it once was, it is prob- 
able that examples of it may be found in the experience 
of every pupil. The following example can probably 
be paralleled in the experience of every person who 
reads this chapter: 

Illustration of Memorising Lessons. — The lesson was 
in physiology with pupils of high school age and grade. 
There were six girls in the class. The teacher called 
the class to the recitation seats, and then with a book 
open before him, he said. "Mary." Mary arose, began 
at the top of the page, recited verbatim through that 
page down the next to the end of the lesson. Then the 
teacher said, "Minnie." Minnie arose, began at the 
same place, recited verbatim the same words down to 
the same stopping place, and sat down. Then the 



202 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

teacher said, "Rhoda." Rhoda began at the same place, 
recited the same text, and stopped at the same point on 
the page. The other three girls were called upon in 
the same way and recited the same text. When the 
sixth girl had recited, the teacher said, "Take to the 
bottom of page 98 for the next time. Class excused." 

Inadequacy of Learning Lessons by Heart. — There 
was something good about this lesson. The assignment 
was perfectly definite. Every pupil in the class knew 
exactly what she was expected to do for the next day. 
They knew, too, when they had their lessons prepared. 
Each pupil knew that she would be called upon and knew 
what was expected of her. Another good thing was 
that the teacher did not talk too much. 

Notwithstanding all these good things it was not 
teaching. Not a single question was asked by the 
teacher, nor by a pupil, which would demand a statement 
showing what was in the minds of the pupils. The 
pupils may have known what the words of the text 
meant, or they may not. The teacher may have been well 
acquainted with the facts stated in the text, but there 
was nothing in his teaching which indicated that he was. 
Any person who could read might have been just as 
good a teacher as he was. It is possible that the pupils 
derived some value from this recitation, but if they 
did, it was not the fault of the teacher. It is a travesty 
upon the business to call such a process teaching. It 
is difficult to conceive a more stupefying process, yet 
perhaps all of us nave known teachers who demanded 



HOW TO STUDY 203 

this kind of study, and when the pupil has varied from 
the statement of the text, petulantly exclaimed, "Well, 
well, if you can improve upon the words of the book 
do so; but I do not think you can." 

Why Learning by Heart is Popular. — Learning by 
heart is not necessarily learning. The words of an 
author do not convey any meaning until they have been 
translated into the thought and the words of the learner. 
The process of committing the text to memory so closely 
simulates the process of learning that many teachers 
are deceived by the resemblance. 

What Ought to be Committed to Memory. — There 
are some things that ought to be committed to memory. 
The multiplication table ought to be committed to mem- 
ory, — after it has been learned, not before. There will 
be so many occasions to use the multiplication table 
that it is worth while to commit it to memory so that 
it may be at hand ready to use when occasion demands it. 
The statement that it ought to be committed to memory 
after it has been learned implies the distinction we have 
already drawn between learning and committing to 
memory. A thing may be committed to memory without 
learning it, and a thing may be learned without commit- 
ting it to memory. 

Other Things to be Memorised. — Similarly, the alpha- 
bet, the tables of denominate numbers, some of the rules 
of grammar, lists of exceptions to the rules, the rules 
for pronunciation, rules for spelling, should be commit- 
ted to memory, because they are to be used so frequently 



204 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

that it is a saving of time and economy of effort to learn 
them thoroughly by heart once for all. Some definitions, 
theorems of geometry, the Constitution of the United 
States, as the supreme law of the land, and such things 
as these are proper subjects for memorizing, because the 
expression is made in very carefully selected language 
and there is permissible no variation in meaning, such 
as variation in language implies. So selections of poetry 
and choice selections of other literature are to be com- 
mitted to memory, because the form in which the thought 
is expressed is frequently the most important thing 
about it. The thought might be expressed in some other 
way, but then it might not be worth committing to 
memory. 

A Better Process of Remembering. — But a lesson may 
be remembered in another way. Instead of remembering 
the words of the text, the learner may remember the 
ideas, translating them into his own thought and -putting 
them into his own words. This is very much better 
than learning the words of the book; for the teacher is 
enabled to judge from the words that the pupil employs 
in expressing the thought whether the thought he has 
obtained is adequate or not. 

>* Illustration of Adequate Interpretation. — A teacher 
in a city was teaching a class of small boys to read. The 
boys were such as might properly be designated "street 
Arabs," and they talked the language of the street with 
all its modern improvements. The lesson was as follows : 
"See the cow. Is not the cow pretty? Can the cow run? 



HOW TO STUDY 205 

Yes, the cow can run. Can the cow run as fast as the 
horse? No, the cow cannot run as fast as the horse.'' 
The teacher was a good teacher, and she desired to know 
whether the boys had obtained an adequate conception 
from what they had read. She inquired: "Who can tell 
me this story in your own way ?" Several thought they 
could, and one boy was designated to tell the story. He 
did it as follows: "Git onto de cow. Aint she a beaut? 
Kin de cow git a gait on her? Sure. Kin the cow 
hump herself wit de horse ? Nit. De cow ain't in it wid 
de horse." It was evident that the thought was adequate. 
Such an interpretation is to be commended. Without it, 
it would be impossible for the teacher to know just what 
thoughts are awakened in the minds of the children by 
the words of the book. 

Topical Analysis. — Some devices for reading and re- 
membering the ideas set forth in the lesson have been 
found helpful, and may be worthy of our consideration. 
One device is that of making a topical analysis of the 
lesson. In some books there is a topical analysis printed 
in the margin of the page. Each paragraph has some 
central thought whose elaboration constitutes the para- 
graph itself. The searching out of the central thought 
and stating it in a very brief manner is a satisfactory 
means of studying a lesson. Sometimes a diagram show- 
ing the relation of these central thoughts to each other 
will enable a whole book to be remembered at a single 
reading. 

Reproduction in R/nYnzo-.— Reproduction in writing 



206 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

is another method of study. A person may take up a 
book and read a page or chapter or section — some unit 
of the subject — and then undertake to reproduce the 
thought as completely as possible in writing. It will 
be found that there is a great temptation to refer to the 
book while writing, to see what really is said about the 
matter under consideration, but which has not been 
clearly comprehended, but such a temptation needs to be 
resisted. Then the next paragraph or section is read 
and reproduced in the same way. Not only will the 
lesson or the book be learned very thoroughly in this 
way, but a great amount of skill in studying will soon 
be acquired. 

Remembering A r ot the Completion of Study. — When 
a pupil has learned the ideas so that he is able to repro- 
duce them, the teacher is usually satisfied with the lesson, 
and thinks his whole duty done. Such is not the case. 
The real study of the lesson is just ready to begin. The 
ideas that have been read and remembered are only the 
raw material for the real study of the lesson which is 
yet to come. 

Perceiving Relations. — The third process of study is 
expressed by saying that we think about it.\ The ideas 
that are read and remembered are held in the mind and 
the relations between them are to be discovered by the 
pupils. The relations between the ideas in today's lesson 
and those in yesterday's lesson need to be searched for. 
Thinking about it means the perception of relations, and 
this constitutes the third element in study. Not only 



HOW TO STUDY 207 

are the relations existing between the ideas of yester- 
day's lesson and those of today's lesson to be discovered, 
but the relations between the different ideas in today's 
lesson are to be seen. Then, too, the relations between 
the ideas in today's lesson and the ideas in any other 
lesson are to be searched for and discovered. It would 
be wrong for the teacher to point out these relations, 
for this is the place in which the activity of the pupil 
can be most profitable. The business of the teacher is to 
detain the attention of the pupils upon the matter in hand 
until they come to see the relations for themselves. His 
business is to suggest, to urge, to hold the attention to the 
matter in hand until the relations make themselves mani- 
fest. It is not a time for hurry nor for stirring up emo- 
tion other than such as is necessarily an accompaniment 
of the greatest possible production of nervous energy. 
Time is necessary, but talk by the teacher is quite unnec- 
essary. Explanation in such a case is out of order. 
Explanation means the pointing out of relations, and 
that is not the business of the teacher when the children 
are studying the lesson. Sometimes this keeping still is 
the most difficult, as it is the most important part of the 
teacher's work. 

Assignment Without Recitation. — Teachers are some- 
times criticized for assigning a lesson which is not 
called for in recitation. This means that they have 
assigned a lesson which is to be read and remembered, 
and then have failed to call for a reproduction of those 
ideas that have been learned. If the class is so faithful 



-08 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

that the teacher feels confident that they have studied, 
read, and remembered the ideas, then he is justified in 
not calling for their reproduction, but may proceed at 
once to the utilization of the ideas as materials for the 
lesson. He may call for a statement of the relations ex- 
isting between the ideas, rather than for the reproduction 
of the ideas themselves. It is a better test of the dili- 
gence of the pupil, and altogether a higher form of 
teaching, since it is impossible for the pupil to show 
forth the relation unless the ideas are at hand. 

Perceiving Relations a Study Lesson. — This plan of 
procedure makes of the lesson a study lesson. It is 
the most important and the most valuable kind of lesson, 
and is the kind in which the assistance of the teacher in 
training the children how to study is the most neces- 
sary and the most profitable. The kind of lesson in which 
the ideas are merely reproduced is a testing lesson, and 
is not nearly so important. 

The Study of Tilings. — Besides the study of a book 
we need to study things. We interpret the ideas that we 
read in a book only by means of the ideas which we 
have already obtained by experience with things. The 
study of things gives us first hand knowledge that lies 
at the basis of all other kinds. In this sense it must be 
considered the most important, even though not the 
greatest in amount. The study of books can give us 
only second hand information. There is a great differ- 
ence between first hand and second hand knowledge. 
When we study a thing, we get an idea of that thing. 



HOW TO STUDY 209 

When we study a book about a thing, we get an idea 
of another person's idea of the thing. When instead of 
getting second hand information we get it at third or 
fourth hand, the probability that our ideas approximate 
the real thing is very small. 

N- First Process — Abstraction. — In the study of a thing 
we can discover the same elements which we observed in 
the study of a book. Suppose that we are studying a 
machine, a chemical process, a flower, or a crawfish. 
The first thing we do is to look at the thing as a whole, 
and this corresponds to the reading of the book lesson. 
Then we analyze the thing into its parts. Thus if our 
object is a grasshopper, we see that it is composed of 
three body divisions, head, thorax and abdomen. Apply- 
ing a name to each of these parts makes our recognition 
of them more definite, although the name is not at all 
necessary to our analysis. Then we turn our attention 
to one of these parts, for example the head, to the ex- 
clusion, for the time being, of all other parts. Next we 
examine the parts of the head. W T e see in it the com- 
pound eyes, the antennae, and the mouth parts. We 
limit our observation for the instant to one of these 
organs, neglecting all other parts. W r e count the seg- 
ments of the antennae, not so much to discover how 
many segments there are, although this fact is ascer- 
tained by counting, but because in the process of count- 
ing we fix our attention for an instant upon one par- 
ticular segment to the exclusion of all other segments, 
or of all other parts of the body. This process by means 



210 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

of which we examine each part of the thing we are 
studying to the exclusion of all other parts is called the 
process of abstraction. 

Second Process — Analysis. — At the same time that the 
process of abstraction is going on, another process which 
is scarcely to be distinguished from it is in progress. We 
look not merely at the part itself, but we examine the 
relation that the part we are studying bears to the other 
parts. We see how it is like and how it . differs from the 
other parts. This process of seeing the thing in its 
relations is the process of analysis. Abstraction and 
analysis are fundamental processes in the study of a 
thing, and we have found that they are equally impor- 
tant in the study of a book lesson. Abstraction and 
analysis correspond to the reading of the book lesson. 
Sometimes we delineate the object seen by drawing, and 
this is a device, or method of study, which demands that 
we shall examine the thing more minutely than we other- 
wise would do. We cannot fail to examine the thing 
that is drawn, while we might fail to examine some 
portion of it if we did not draw. 

Third Process — Perception of Relations — Differences 
and Resemblances. — Even yet we have not completed our 
study of a thing. The third element in study has not been 
accounted for. Let us suppose that we have studied a 
bumblebee, a housefly, a butterfly, a squash bug, a dragon- 
fly, and a beetle. We shall never be able to learn all that 
we ought to know about a grasshopper by studying the 
insect itself. When we have studied some other insects 



HOW TO STUDY 211 

we can proceed to discover the relations that the grass- 
hopper holds to them. We observe the resemblances and 
the differences among all these insects. We observe that 
they are all alike in having two pairs of wings, segmented 
abdomen, breathing by spiracles, and we enumerate many 
other resemblances. Similarly we point out the differ- 
ences that exist among the insects studied in respect to 
their wings, mouth-parts, and metamorphosis. 

This is the third step in the study of a thing, and, 
as it is the most important element in the study of a book 
lesson, it is really the most important step here. It dis- 
closes more about the thing than does any other step in 
study. There is the same necessity for the teacher's 
assistance, and for the teacher's self-repression to avoid 
pointing out the relations, that we find in the study of 
3 book lesson. 

Example of a Ragweed. — But it is not necessary that 
we shall discover resemblances and differences between 
different things in order to exemplify this third element 
of study. The thing manifests relations within itself, 
and is its own center of correlation. So simple a thing 
as a ragweed or a common flower of any kind, or a frog 
or a grasshopper shows forth relations which must be 
perceived before we can say that we have any adequate 
knowledge of the thing itself. 

Correlated Characters. — Let us look at a ragweed as 
its own center of correlation, and see the relations that it 
manifests. The spikes of a ragweed are terminal, there- 
fore it must be branching in order that there may be as 



212 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

many terminal buds as possible. The branching habit 
enables the ragweed to produce a large number of seeds 
and so propagates the species in large numbers. It in- 
sures a sufficient number of progeny to continue the race. 
But a densely branching plant will shade the interior 
branches, unless as in the case of the ragweed the leaves 
are much cut and ragged. The reproductive organs are 
separated from each other, the stamens borne in one 
flower, and the pistils in another. The pistillate flowers 
are below the staminate, and this favors the reception 
of pollen that may be dropped from the staminate flowers 
above. The pistillate flowers are turned upward, thus 
favoring the reception of the pollen, and the stigmas 
are bearded, thus further assuring that the pollen grains 
will stick until fertilization occurs. The staminate flowers 
are clustered ; and the cluster is surrounded by an in- 
volcure which is entire, and which serves as a protection 
for the pendulous heads of staminate flowers. The 
staminate heads are turned downwards, and when the 
pollen is discharged it is naturally directed toward the 
pistillate flowers. The pollen is produced in large quanti- 
ties ; as many as a billion pollen grains have been estima- 
ted in one plant, and this is about half a million times 
as many pollen grains as there are seeds produced by the 
same plant. Add to this the fact that the ragweed is 
protected from herbivorous animals by its bitter taste, 
and we have fourteen or fifteen different characters con- 
tributing to the one definite effect of insuring that there 
shall be a continuation of the species. 



HOW TO STUDY 213 

We shall never know the ragweed, nor any other 
thing, until we have perceived the relations existing in 
the thing itself. This is the study that the pupil must 
do for himself. It is wrong for the teacher to point 
out these relations ; for this takes away the opportunity 
for self-directed activity on the part of the pupil. The 
business of the teacher is to know and to recognize the 
relations that are significant, and to hold the attention of 
the pupil to the matter in hand until the relations which 
he knows to be significant are seen. 

Study of Bictures. — The third object of study which 
we wish to consider is pictures. Pictures are of great 
importance in the books of the present day. The ex- 
cellence and cheapness of the new T methods of repro- 
ducing pictures makes it possible to illustrate nearly all 
books. Publishers depend largely upon pictures in a book 
to make it sell. The authors of one series of geogra- 
phies now before the public paid thirty thousand dollars 
to secure the pictures that are reproduced in those books. 
One publishing house gave a painter a thousand dollars 
to paint ten pictures of scenes and events in American 
history, in order that it might reproduce them in a 
school history of the United States. 

But the pictures in a book are frequently of little 
service to the pupil or to the teacher, largely because the 
teacher does not know how to study them nor how to 
teach the children to study them. A person who wishes 
to specialize in the study of pictures will make a reputa- 
tion as wide as the continent. 



214 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

First Process. — In the study of pictures we may dis- 
cover the same three elements that we have found to be- 
long to the study of a book lesson and to the study of an 
object. The first thing to do is to look at the picture 
as a whole. We should call it by a name if possible, 
although the name is not an essential part of the picture. 
This looking at the picture as a whole corresponds to 
the reading of the lesson. After the picture has been 
seen as a whole, the next step is to analyze it and look 
at the different parts, or to see the elements that enter 
into its composition. If this examination of the picture 
were to be written out, it would constitute a description 
of the picture. 

Difference Between Description and Interpretation. — 
It is rather a difficult process to get children to make a 
good description of a picture, and to see things just as 
they are, instead of seeing them as they think they ought 
to be. It is very difficult to state a fact instead of an 
interpretation of the fact. Teachers of English who use 
pictures as subjects for exercises in composition realize 
the strong tendency to write into a picture what is not 
there rather than to describe exactly what the picture 
shows. The description of a picture involves a state- 
ment of the relation of the different elements of a picture 
to each other, but it does not involve an interpretation of 
what the picture expresses. 
\^ Third Process — Interpretation. — The third element in 
the study of a picture consists of its interpretation. It 
involves not merely a statement of the relations of the 



HOW TO STUDY 215 

different elements of the picture to each other, but it 
demands that we shall draw inferences from what we see 
concerning that which we do not see. Certain elements 
in any picture are in harmony with certain other situa- 
tions which we cannot see, and conversely certain ele- 
ments in the picture are out of harmony with other 
elements which we might discover in another picture. 
We should make any legitimate inference that the picture 
allows. 

Drawing Inferences. — It is our business in studying 
a picture to understand the story which the picture tells. 
The story in a picture is but a continuation of the per- 
ception of relations and of inferences which may legiti- 
mately be drawn. Some pictures, and these are the most 
numerous in our books, tell no story, but show forth many 
harmonious relations. They are packed with information. 
We get knowledge from them ; but according to our 
previous statement, all of our knowledge takes the form 
of the perception of relations. The study of a picture, 
then, is a thinking process, and demands that we perceive 
relations. Pictures that illustrate a piece of literature or 
a narration of events tell a story. Certain antecedent 
circumstances and conditions may legitimately be in- 
ferred from the pictorial situation. The description of 
the antecedent circumstances and the further subsequent 
circumstances that would be in conformity to the situa- 
tion represented by the picture constitutes its story. Very 
much may be done in training children to study pictures 
and to see in them more than they do see. At present, 



216 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

it is to be feared that few children derive the benefit 
that they might from the illustrations in books. The 
illustrations may be made a hundred times as serviceable 
as they are now. 

Importance of Studying Pictures. — When children 
have learned to study pictures, teachers have a means 
of improving their teaching very much. As admirably 
as text-books are illustrated, a teacher will find that a 
library of pictures, which may be cut out of magazines 
and other printed matter, adds much to the effectiveness 
of his teaching. Such pictures, elegant illustrations of 
almost every kind of subject may be had for the trouble 
of preserving them. They may be mounted on manila 
paper or cardboard, and will constitute a valuable library 
of reference. Besides this, it is possible for every 
teacher to make use of some form of projection appara- 
tus which will contribute to the effectiveness of his teach- 
ing. Sunlight is the best and the cheapest source of 
illumination, and a projection apparatus using sunlight 
may be constructed for a very small sum of money. The 
effectivenesss of teaching by pictures, however, depends 
largely upon the ability that the children have acquired 
to study pictures, and this fact emphasizes the importance 
of teaching children how to study them. 

Synopsis 

1. Study is a self-directed activity on the part of 
the pupil that results in knowledge and in mental dis- 
cipline. 



HOW TO STUDY 217 

2. Study is not confined to books, but includes 
objects and pictures. 

3. There are three processes involved in the study 
of a book-lesson, a thing or a picture ; first, an examina- 
tion of the subject of study as a whole ; second, an 
analysis of the parts which compose it ; third, the per- 
ception of the relations existing between the parts of the 
thing, or between the thing studied, and other things 
already known. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
What Teaching Is. 

Definition of Teaching. — We have learned that study 
is the self-directed activity of the child, and similarly 
we may arrive at the conclusion that teaching is an 
activity 7 of the teacher. We have looked at school 
work from the standpoint of the learner, now we con- 
sider it from the standpoint of the teacher. The ac- 
tivity of the teacher in the teaching process is designed 
to produce an effect upon the mind of the child. We 
may put these elements into the form of a definition 
and say that teaching is the activity on the part of the 
teacher that produces an effect upon the mind of the 
child. 

Teaching and Telling. — We ought to discriminate be- 
tween teaching and telling. Telling is an activity of 
the teacher, and it is, or may be, intended to produce 
an effect upon the mind of the child ; but unless it 
does do so, it is not teaching. We may tell a large 
number of pupils how to make a loaf of bread, but 
when we have done so we have not taught them. 
Teachers sometimes express surprise that children do 
not know what they ought. The teacher sometimes 
says that "They ought to know that. I told them 

218 



WHAT TEACHING IS 219 

three or four times last week." But telling is not 
teaching - . Telling may produce an effect upon the 
minds of the children, or it may not. In order to 
teach a class how to make a loaf of bread, the teacher 
must do something which will cause the minds of the 
children to travel over the same mental path that the 
teacher's mind traveled over when he was telling them. 
In order to know that their minds are traveling over 
the same mental path, there must be an expression by 
the pupils. This is perhaps the chief external dif- 
ference between teaching and telling. Telling does 
not demand an expression on the part of the pupil. 
Teaching makes an imperative demand that the ideas 
shall be expressed. 

Modifying Misapprehension. — Different pupils will 
obtain different understandings of what has been told 
them, because they will join the things that are told 
to different apperceiving masses. Widely different 
notions of anything said or read will be obtained by 
different children in this way. It is evident that not 
all of the varying ideas will correspond to those which 
the teacher intends them to get. Hence the teacher 
must do something to modify the varying ideas of 
each pupil so that, notwithstanding their different ap- 
perceiving masses, all pupils shall obtain the same idea 
of the thing taught. The pupils must repeat what 
the teacher has said. They must be able to state the 
ingredients that enter into the composition of a loaf 
of bread in their proper proportion, the order in which 



220 I'K I x CIPLES OF TEACHING 

they are introduced, the methods of mixing, the time 
and the temperature of baking. In a class of any 
large number, some of the pupils will misapprehend 
some of these things, and the teacher must correct the 
mistaken impressions. Only when the pupils have 
had their misapprehensions corrected, are able to lay 
the proper emphasis upon the different processes, and 
can tell the story as clearly as did the teacher, are we 
able to say that the class has been taught. 

Unity of Teacher and Pupil. — The teacher knows 
the mental path along which he causes the pupil to 
travel, because he has himself traveled over the same 
path before. He knows all the difficulties and all the 
places where the train of thought may be switched 
off. It is the teacher's duty to keep his mind in con- 
tact with the mind of the pupil all the time and to 
know where the child is mentally located at any in- 
stant; to offer suggestions and to furnish incentives 
that will keep the mind of the pupil in the proper 
pathway at all times. 

The most important and the most difficult thing is 
to know where the child is mentally located. The 
teacher and the pupil must be thinking the same thing 
at the same time. Their minds are in contact with 
each other, but there is a difference between the think- 
ing of the teacher and that of the pupil. The pupil 
thinks the thing, and the teacher thinks the 
thought of the pupil. The unformulated and un- 
expressed thought of the teacher at any instant 



WHAT TEACHING IS 221 

is "Just what is the pupil thinking at this present 
moment? Does the thought of the pupil at the pres- 
ent instant agree with what I know he ought to be 
thinking?" 

Necessity for Expression. — Since the pupil and the 
teacher are to think the same thoughts at the same 
time, and since the teacher must know at any instant 
what the pupil is thinking, it is evident that there 
can be no very successful teaching unless there is con- 
stant expression by the pupil all the time that the 
teaching process is going on. Expression has two 
effects : In the first place, it enables the teacher to 
know where the pupil is mentally located at any time ; 
and in the second place, it serves as an intensifier of 
the pupil's thought, rendering it more definite and 
clear. 

Forms of Expression.-^- Expression may take the form 
of words, as in the case of oral recitation, but it is 
not limited to this. It may take the form of drawing, 
as when a teacher wishes to know the process of the 
pupil in thinking the Mississippi river, or some other 
geographical feature. Expression may take the form 
of writing on the blackboard, as in reproducing the 
thought of a reading lesson, writing out the demon- 
stration in geometry, the analysis of a sentence in 
grammar, or making a diagram of it. The written 
solution of a problem in arithmetic or algebra ; the 
construction of a diagram in geometry; the drawing 
of a figure to show the relation of its different parts ; — 



222 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

any of these things may constitute a form of expres- 
sion which is necessary for teaching. So, too, the 
drawing illustrative of an incident in the reading of 
a story is an adequate form of expression for the 
purpose that expression is employed in teaching. 
Sometimes the expression may take the form of fold- 
ing papers, as in a primary class, following the direc- 
tions of a teacher in exercises intended to develop 
the number v concept. Other forms of constructive 
work, such as the use of a sand table or a molding 
board, the cutting of cardboard, sewing;, weaving, 
building a tent, or constructing articles with wood 
may sometimes be employed to enable the teacher to 
know the mental location of the pupil. 

Purpose of Oral Redding. — Oral reading is such an 
important form of expression that the discussion of 
it may well stand by itself. The purpose of oral read- 
ing is not merely to obtain the thought. Tf Ave could 
be certain that the pupil obtains an adequate thought 
from the selection that he is assigned to read, there 
might be little value in oral reading. But how shall 
we cause the pupil in reading to obtain an adequate 
thought, and how shall we know that he has ob- 
tained it? 

Oral reading has little value except as a means of 
manifesting to the teacher the adequacy of the thought 
which the pupil has obtained from the printed page. 
The thought is expressed quite as much by the em- 
phasis and inflection of the voice as it is by words. 



WHAT TEACHING IS 223 

Exactly opposite and contradictory meanings may be 
expressed by varying- emphasis in reading such sen- 
tences as "They will plant corn, if it does not rain." 
"He will tell the truth, if he is not a gentleman." . 

Imitative Expression.— -It is evident, too, that the form 
of expression may be imitated without an adequate 
thought being secured. Hence arises the danger from 
asking pupils to read a sentence as a teacher reads it. 
Notwithstanding this danger, sometimes the only way 
to enable a child to acquire the thought that is ade- 
quate is to read it in such a way that the pupil will 
recognize the thought which the teacher's reading ex- 
presses. Here, then, are the two dangers between 
which the teacher must, choose. He must choose be- 
tween the danger of inadequate thought, and of sense- 
less imitation. Anyone who has studied carefully the 
matter of teaching reading must know how hopeless 
it is to try to ascertain the mental location of pupils 
and the adequacy of the thought that is obtained from 
the printed page, by question and answer, or by re- 
production without oral reading. Hence arises the great 
importance of reading aloud as a means of testing ade- 
quacy of thought. 

Expression as an Aid to Clearness.- — Expression con- 
duces to clearness of thinking. Perhaps the psychol- 
ogy of expression may not furnish a very satisfactory 
explanation of it, but there can be but little question 
of the fact. The more one tries to express his thought, 
the clearer it becomes. It is scarcely an exaggeration 



224 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

to say that one never really knows a thing in all its 
length and breadth and fullness until he has taught it 
to a class. The old Latin proverb applies here : 
"Men, while teaching, learn." 

Psychology of Expression. — The psychology of ex- 
pression may be stated approximately in the follow- 
ing manner : Whenever we experience a mental pro- 
cess, a nervous impulse must traverse a nervous arc. 
The nervous arc consists of three parts, a nerve, a 
brain center, or combination of brain cells, and another 
nerve. It is the transmission through the brain center, 
not the accumulation of the nervous impulse in it, 
that is the concomitant of the intellectual process, 
hence the nervous impulse must pass out of the brain 
center into something else or there will be no intel- 
lectual process. 

Physiology of Expression. — This something else is 
generally a nerve leading to the organs of expression. 
Such a nerve of expression leads usually to a muscle; 
and expression commonly, though not always, takes 
the form of muscular movement. The nerve of ex- 
pression may, however, lead to some gland, and the 
expression may take the form of a glandular secretion, 
such as is manifested in Aveeping. Sometimes the 
nerve of expression may lead to the internal organs., 
when the expression does not appear at the extremities 
nor in the face. At any rate, wherever a nervous 
impulse that is the concomitant of the intellectual pro- 
cess may go, it must leave the brain center. 



WHAT TEACHING IS 225 

The fact that there are two nerves connected with 
the nervous arc explains what is meant by the phrase 
"No impression without expression." The statement 
implies that it is impossible for us to know anything 
or to learn anything without some form of expression 
in the process of learning, and by expression in this 
sense is nearly always meant some form of muscular 
movement. 

Is All Consciousness Motor? — Some psychologists go 
even farther than this. They will tell us that all con- 
sciousness is motor. By consciousness here is meant 
any form of an intellectual process, including the form 
that makes us aware of our own mental processes. 
The statement of this may be understood by carrying 
our physiological explanation a little farther. When 
a nervous impulse runs out of the brain center along 
a nerve of expression to a muscle, the muscle con- 
tracts. The contraction of the muscle starts another 
nervous impulse in the muscle nerve, and this im- 
pulse flows backward to a muscle center in the brain. 
It is this backward flowing impulse which is be- 
lieved to be the concomitant of the consciousness it- 
self. It is possible that this explanation is altogether 
too far reaching, and lays too much emphasis upon the 
motor element in learning and in education in general, 
but it is employed by many writers upon education to 
justify the demand for a much greater extension of 
constructive work, and creative energy in our educa- 
tional processes. It is this psychology of expression 



226 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

which is used to justify the introduction of manual 
training and constructive work into our schools. 

A Different Interpretation. — It is possible that a some- 
what different explanation of the psychological proc- 
ess involved in expression will be more satisfactory. 
When we think of anything, we give attention to it. 
When we undertake to express our thought, we must 
give increased attention to it. Attention is a process 
by which a nervous impulse is directed into and 
through a brain center. If a nervous impulse be 
strong, it will encounter sufficient resistance to force 
it out into some surrounding center ; and since the 
motor centers are in the middle of the brain areas, 
and since they have been used much from birth, and 
by habit have become easy of access from all parts 
of the brain, the motor centers are likely to be the 
first to receive this overflow from the brain center 
that is traversed by a strong impulse. 

Cause of Expression. — Any large amount of nervous 
energy passing through a brain center will overflow 
and run into some expression center. In order that 
there shall be expression, then, there must be a large 
amount of nervous force, and this is a condition which 
accompanies a larger amount of intellectual activity. 
Hence we have the expression accompanying, rather 
than causing, a greater amount of intellectual work. 
It is really the attention that causes the greater 
amount of intellectual work, but the proper expression 
is an evidence rather than a cause of the greater in- 
tellectual work done. 



WHAT TEACHING IS 227 

Whatever may be the psychology of expression, the 
fact remains that no process of learning can be very 
satisfactory which is not accompanied by an expres- 
sion of the thought in some manner. 

Hozv the Teacher Assists the Pupil. — The pupil is 
assisted in his expression and in his thought by the 
teacher. The teacher knows the mental path, knows 
where it is easy to be drawn away from it ; and at the 
proper time, by question or suggestion or calling to 
mind some related experience, he will be able to 
bring the pupil back to the right path or to prevent 
his leaving it. Often by the form of question, or by 
the look of the teacher, the pupil is directed in his 
thinking. This assistance given by the teacher, which 
is a legitimate part of his work, may be so overdone, 
especially in the case of young and inexperienced teach- 
ers, that it not only becomes ludicrous, but disastrous to 
any thinking on the part of the pupil. 

Class Teaching. — We have been using expressions 
that apply to only a single pupil, but all that has been 
said belongs in equal degree to every member of the 
class. The teacher must know the mental location at 
any time of every member of the class, and must di- 
rect the thought of each one. All members of the 
class must be traveling the same mental path and 
must be thinking the same thing at the same time. 
From this proposition, certain very important corol- 
laries follow. 



228 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Class Unity. — In the first place, thinking the same 
thing at the same time maintains a class unity which 
is the ideal in school teaching. It settles all cases 
of discipline, for there can be no disorder while all 
are thinking the same thing. The teacher who would 
be a good disciplinarian must set as his ideal the main- 
tenance of this class unity in teaching. 

Number in a Class. — In the second place, this consid- 
eration fixes the number of pupils that can be profit- 
ably taught in one class. We may tell a thousand 
persons at once, but we cannot teach a thousand. A 
hundred pupils in a class is too many, and so is fifty. 
Some have said that there should not be more than 
thirty in a class, and perhaps twenty-four are enough. 
A young teacher cannot teach a large class so well 
as can a teacher of the same ability who has had 
more experience. If a class is well graded, a larger 
number can be well taught than if it is not. The rule 
must always be that no greater number is permissible 
than that whose mental location can be known by 
the teacher at any instant. The teacher must be able 
to know, generally, just what each pupil in the class 
is thinking at any time. With most teachers, a class 
of ten or fifteen is better than a larger number. 

Pupil Recites to the Class. — Another corollary fol- 
lows. When a pupil is called upon to recite, he re- 
cites to the whole class and not to the teacher. The 
recitation is not a matter of private conversation be- 
tween the teacher and the pupil who is reciting. Every 



WHAT TEACHING IS 229 

member of the class must be thinking the same 
thought at the same time, and that will not be possible 
unless the recitation is to the whole class and every 
member of the class knows where the pupil who is 
reciting is mentally located. 

Pupil Recites for the Class. — A corollary similar to the 
last also follows. The pupil who is reciting is speak- 
ing for the whole class. He represents the meeting 
as its spokesman, and is reciting the thoughts of the 
class. A pupil who finds that his thoughts are not 
represented by the one reciting, has a right to object, 
and it is his duty to do so. 

Teacher Looks at Other Members of the Class. — 
Since the teacher must know the location of each 
pupil in the class, it will be necessary for him to 
look at the other members rather than at the one 
who is reciting. The teacher can judge what the 
person who is reciting is thinking by what he says ; 
but he must judge of what the other members of the 
class are thinking by other indications. He may judge 
by the expressions of their faces, or by the involun- 
tary movements that they make, which, if he were 
skillful enough, would enable him to read clearly the 
thoughts that each one experiences. 

Order of Propounding Questions. — The teacher usu- 
ally indicates the point of beginning of the train of 
thought by asking a question, making a suggestion 
or stating a topic. The teacher may ask a question 
and then designate some member of the class to ans- 



230 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

wer it, or he may designate the person to answer be- 
fore the question is asked. One of these methods of 
procedure conforms to the principles here laid down 
and the other does not. It is evident that if the per- 
son to answer is designated before the question i-? 
asked, there is a lack of responsibility felt by the other 
members of the class, and there is likely to be a 
failure to maintain the unity of thought in the class. 
If the pupil to answer is designated before the ques- 
tion is asked, the assumption is that the question is 
asked directly to that pupil. If the question is asked 
before the pupil is designated, the implication is that 
the question is asked of the whole class, and the 
pupil designated to answer it is merely the representa- 
tive spokesman of the class. A teacher who has a 
proper conception of class unity will always put the 
question before designating the pupil to answer it. 
but a teacher who merely conforms to the rule with- 
out feeling the importance of the principle which 
the rule expresses, will be little helped by such con- 
formity. This idea of the relation of the pupil who 
is reciting to the rest of the class obviates the neces- 
sity of keeping a ledger account of the number of 
times that a pupil is called upon. Every pupil *s 
called upon every time, and is to be held responsible 
for the recitation. 

Difference Between the Thinking of the Teacher and 
Pupil. — The pupil and the teacher think the same thoughts 
at the same time ; but there is a difference between the 



WHAT TEACHING IS 231 

thinking* of the pupil and the thinking* of the teacher. 
The pupil thinks the thought of the lesson, and the 
teacher thinks the thought of the pupil. The pupil 
thinks the thought of the lesson as he understands it, 
and the teacher thinks the lesson as the pupil thinks it. 
The teacher needs to keep his mind in immediate con- 
tact with the mind of the pupil. There is also another 
different. The thing that the teacher recognizes first 
in the beginning of the process of teaching is the ef- 
fect that it is desired to produce upon the mind and 
character of the pupil by the process of teaching. The 
teacher must know* this effect. This is the justifica- 
tion for the consideration of the end or purpose of 
education in Chapters 4 and 5. 

Teacher Recognizes Order of Processes. — When the 
effect which it is desired to produce has been de- 
termined, then the teacher needs to recognize the 
mental processes which it is necessary for the child 
to go through in order that this effect shall be pro- 
duced upon his mind and character. This shows the 
necessity for the study of psychology by the teacher. 
When these mental processes have been recognized, 
then the teacher selects the subjects and exercises 
which may be employed with the greatest economy 
of effort to induce in the minds of the pupils these 
thoughts and mental processes. 

What the Pupil Understands.— With the pupil the 
process is completely reversed. The pupil sees first, 
and perhaps sees only, the means that are to be em- 



232 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

ployed in his education. He sees that he is studying 
arithmetic, or history, or zoology. He knows, for ex- 
ample, that he is studying a grasshopper or a crawfish 
or an earthworm, and is trying to find out all about 
it. He knows that he is trying to find the gills, or the 
spiracles or the mouthparts or the sense organs. The 
teacher knows that the pupil is using his mind in the 
process of abstraction, analysis, discrimination, com- 
paring, judging, generalizing, and in logical definition. 
The pupil knows nothing about the mental processes 
that the teacher is causing him to experience, and 
really he needs to know nothing about them. The 
best results are obtained by coming at them indirectly. 
The astronomer exercises his keenest sight by means 
of averted vision. The pupil may come sometime to 
realize that he did employ the mental processes in- 
dicated, and that it was a good thing for him to do ; 
but ordinarily he knows nothing more about his w r ork 
than that he was trying to learn the subjects of in- 
struction. If, however, the teacher knows nothing 
more than this, he can never rise above the plane of 
an amateur, and must fail to reach the dignity of an 
artist or professional teacher. Sometime, usually a 
long time afterward, the pupil, by comparing himself 
with persons who did not have the advantages that 
he himself has experienced, may come to recognize 
that the work which he accomplished in school has 
had an effect upon his mind and character. So the 
point that the teacher started from is the point at 



WHAT TEACHING IS 233 

which the pupil arrives last. The last thing" to be 
considered by the teacher is the first, and often the 
only thing considered by the pupil. In this fact we 
have an explanation of the different view points of 
the teacher and the pupil, as well as an explanation 
of the difference between the kinds of knowledge of 
the subject that the teacher and pupil must have. 

Synopsis. 

1. Teaching is an activity of the teacher which is 
designed to produce an effect upon the mind and 
character of the pupil. 

2. Teaching is not telling. Teaching consists in 
causing the mind of the pupil to traverse the same 
mental path that the teacher is going over. The teacher 
and the pupil must travel the same mental path at 
the same time. 

3. Traveling the same mental path at the same 
time maintains a unity between teacher and pupil 
that is the ideal condition for all school work, in- 
cluding discipline. 

4. The teacher must know where the pupil is men- 
tally located at any time, and from this fact arises the 
necessity for expression by the pupil. 

5. The entire class must be a unit, and this fact 
fixes the status of the pupil who recites. Tie recites 
to the whole class and for the whole class ; the teacher 
watches the expression on the faces of the rest of the 
class rather than the pupil who is reciting. Only that 



234 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

number can be taught at any one time whose mental 
location can be known by the teacher at any instant. 
The teacher must indicate the point of beginning be- 
fore designating the pupil who is to recite. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
The Recitation. 

Importance of the Recitation. — The most importan 
function of the school is the recitation. All consider- 
ations about the schoolhouse, its lighting, its heating, 
its ventilation; all matters concerning the course of 
study, the subjects of instruction, the length of the 
school day, the number of months in the school year ; 
all these things are subordinate to the recitation. If 
the recitation is a failure, none of these other things 
can make the school work a success. It is in and 
through the recitation that the teacher produces that 
effect upon the mind and character of the child which 
it is the purpose of all good teaching to accomplish. 
In the recitation, the pupil and the teacher come into 
that immediate contact with each other which en- 
ables the teacher to bring about the effect that the 
school is established to produce. 

Literal Meaning of the Word. — Since the recitation 
is of such extreme importance, we are justified in 
giving it the most careful consideration. The literal 
meaning is to say over, or to say again, or to say 
back. The root cit means to say, and re means again, 
or back. So, literally, the word recitation means the 

235 



236 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

act of saying over, or saying back, that which has 
been presented to the pupil, either orally or by means 
of a book. This was no doubt a correct designation 
of the process in the practice of the old teacher of 
Latin, who in all probability first applied this term 
to the recitation. It exactly describes the process that 
is exemplified in the practice of the Chinese schools. 

Exemplification of the Literal Meaning. — In China, 
a lesson is assigned from a book. The pupil goes to 
his proper place on the floor and shouts out his les- 
son as loud as he can until he believes that he is 
able to say over the portion of the text that has been 
assigned to him. He learns the words, and there is 
no demand made upon him that he should learn the 
thought. If the last word on the page which marks 
the limit of his lesson is in the middle of a sentence, 
or even if it be the first word of a sentence, the pupil 
stops his learning right there and does not trouble 
himself about the meaning of the word or the sentence. 
Then he comes up to the teacher, hands him his book, 
turns his back to the teacher and repeats the words of 
the text that he has learned. This process is called 
"backing the book." Formerly, the process of teach- 
ing in European and American schools was something- 
very like this ; but happily, the practice has fallen 
completely into disuse, or lingers only in a few places 
where the light of better things has not penetrated. 

A More Extended Meaning. — Recitation now means 
much more than giving back what has been learned. 



THE RECITATION 237 

We ought to have a better name for the process than 
we have, and one which does not need so much ex- 
planation. But the term recitation is well established, 
and we may extend its meaning and keep the word 
with less danger of misapprehension than we should 
encounter by coining a new one. It might be remarked 
here, that in England the word lesson is more com- 
monly used to designate the process to which we apply 
the term recitation. 

The Testing Element. — We may discover in the reci- 
tation at least four different elements. A complete 
recitation will include something of each of these four. 
The first element is testing, which is designed to dis- 
cover whether or not the pupil has studied his les- 
son, and that he has been faithful in making the 
preparation which he is expected to make. It serves 
as an incentive to study ; and without it, in many cases, 
the pupil would become negligent and fail to make the 
preparation that has been demanded. 

The Test as Incentive to Study-. — Let us suppose 
that a lesson has been assigned for study from a 
text book, to a class in the seventh or eighth grade, 
in any school in the country. If there is a feeling that 
they will not be held to a recitation or to a report of 
their study, a very large number of pupils will fail to 
put a proper amount of effort into the learning of the 
lesson assigned. The testing lesson, then, serves as 
a spur to study. 

Punishment for Failure. — Formerlv, the failure in 



238 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the test was considered a matter for punishment by 
the teacher. A pupil who failed to study his lesson, 
as shown by his recitation test, was whipped, or kept 
in after school, or made to stand on the floor, or sub- 
jected to some other form of punishment. While the 
severity that is visited upon a delinquent is not so 
great as it formerly was, the idea of punishment for 
delinquency still persists. The teacher's disapproval, 
or scolding, or sarcastic remark, or lack of commenda- 
tion, or even the pupil's feeling of failure still serves 
as an incentive to faithful preparation. The oppor- 
tunity to recite when a lesson has been prepared well, 
is an incentive of another kind. When a pupil has 
prepared his lesson well, it is a source of satisfaction 
to him to be permitted to recite, and to tell what he 
has learned. So, in the test of the recitation, there is 
a double inducement to study. 

Where No Test is Employed. — In the German Uni- 
versities, and in some other schools, there is no test- 
ing lesson. A student in a German University may 
study or he may not study. He may attend lectures 
or he may not attend them. He may read the books 
recommended or he may not read them. He is per- 
fectly free to do as he wishes to do. If, however, he 
desires to obtain a degree, or other recognition of 
good work, he appears before the examiners and takes 
an examination. The examination is supposed to show 
whether he has studied well or not. No one who 
needs the incentive to study that is furnished by the 



THE RECITATION 239 

daily recitation ought to go to a German University. 

Other Advantages of the Test. — The test includes 
other things, however, besides the inducement to 
study. In the test upon the lesson studied, there is 
an opportunity to correct any mistakes that have been 
conceived and to modify any misapprehensions that 
the pupil may have made. 

The pupil has an opportunity to compare his un- 
derstanding of the subject with the understanding that 
the other pupils have obtained. The very attempt it- 
self to put the knowledge that has been gained by 
study into such a form that it may be recited tends 
to make it clearer, and has a very decided effect upon 
its value. Nevertheless, the principal significance of 
the testing element in the recitation is the incentive 
to study. 

The Test Not an Essential Element. — The test is 
really not the most essential part of the recitation. 
If the teacher knows that the class has studied the 
lesson he may proceed as if the assignment had been 
recited. He may use the ideas that have been gained 
from the study of the lesson as a raw material out. of 
which to build a more complete lesson structure than 
he would be able to do by merely testing. So while 
we may never be able to dispense with the test, it is 
not an essential element of the recitation proper. It de- 
pends for its value upon the weakness and inefficiency 
and general untrustworthiness of child nature. This 
is true, notwithstanding the fact that many teachers 



240 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

can see nothing in the recitation except the test, and 
that when this has been satisfactorily made, they are 
pleased with the result, feeling that their whole duty 
has been done. 

When the Testing Element is Necessary. — Whether 
the test shall be the principal element in the recita- 
tion or not depends upon the relation of the teacher to 
his pupils. If the pupils are inattentive, idle, indis- 
posed to study, then the teacher may wisely make the 
recitation largely, or even entirely a test, and mini- 
mize for the time being, the other and more important 
elements. Until good habits of study have been 
formed, and confidential relations established between 
teacher and class, the teacher will probably find it 
advantageous to adhere closely to the recitation of the 
facts in the lesson assigned. 

The Instruction Element. — The second element in 
the recitation is teaching, or instruction. No text book 
lesson contains all about the subject under consid- 
eration that the pupils should know. There is a nec- 
essity for furnishing details that would otherwise be 
omitted. Text-books that are made in one part of the 
country for one class of schools and for one class of 
children are used in another part of the country, by 
another kind of schools, and another class of children. 
No text-book is perfectly adapted to the particular 
class that is using it, and the adaptation must be 
made in and through the recitation. This adaptation 
constitutes part of the element called instruction. 



THE RECITATION 241 

Forms of Instruction. — Instruction may take the form 
of direct telling by the teacher. The teacher ought to 
know a good deal more about the subject than can be 
stated in the text-book used, and he may tell some 
of the things that are necessary to a proper under- 
standing of the lesson assigned. Some of the pupils 
may have had experiences which are more helpful than 
any that the teacher is able to give, or than that 
which is stated in the text book. Concrete illustra- 
tions adapted to the experiences of children are al- 
ways helpful and satisfying. 

Report of Topics Read. — Certain pupils may have 
been assigned topics to read and to report upon. Some 
teachers use this device very successfully for instruc- 
tion, but it has serious limitations that diminish its 
usefulness. If an article or a book is good for one 
member of the class to read, it ought to be good for 
all pupils in the class to read it. It is not the work 
of the class as a whole that is to benefit the members, 
but it is the work of each individual that is to benefit 
him. It adds nothing to the efficiency of the class for 
its members to read a hundred articles, if each mem- 
ber of the class has read only two. The same good 
might be derived by the different members of the 
class from reading the same two articles, as if each 
member had read two different articles. In fact, for 
some reasons the smaller the number of references 
read the better, since it is probable that the smaller 
number selected would be better than the average 



242 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

of the larger number. The report that is made upon 
the reading of an article by a member of the class 
would in all probability benefit the other members of 
the class most if it were made by the teacher. It 
must be understood that the principal benefit in the 
reporting is obtained by the one who makes the re- 
port, rather than by those who merely hear it. 

Advantage of Reporting Upon Readings Assigned. — 
On the other hand, the person who makes the report 
is reciting, just as he would be were he to recite upon 
the lesson assigned to all members of the class. His 
report, or recitation, is likely to be longer, and to oc- 
cupy more time than the ordinary recitation upon the 
lesson assigned to the whole class. It demands a 
greater ability to organize the larger mass of material 
than it does to recite briefly upon a subordinate topic. 

What Teaching Includes. — But this second element 
of the recitation includes, also, teaching in the more 
technical sense of the word. We mean by teaching 
not what is very unwisely called imparting informa- 
tion, but we mean the holding of the attention of the 
pupils upon the subject of the lesson until the relation 
which the teacher knows to be significant appears to 
the children. We have examined this process in the 
preceding chapter under the title of "Teaching How to 
Study." It is perhaps the most important element 
in the recitation, and makes of the recitation a study 
lesson, as the testing element makes of it a testing 
lesson. After the lesson has been studied and recited 



THE RECITATION 243 

by the pupil, the real lesson, the most important part 
of the recitation, is just ready to begin. The facts 
have been learned, they are at hand, and now the 
teacher demands that the pupils shall discover and 
shall state the relations that exist between these facts. 
The pupil who has learned the facts in his historv 
lesson, or in any other lesson, assigned, is in the 
position of the student of botany who has undertaken 
to study a flower and has merely picked it. A person 
who has gathered a flower or a handful of flowers 
has not finished his study of botany nor of that part 
of botany which the flower represents. He now needs 
to study the plant and to discover all the relations in 
it which adapt it to its situation. 

Remembering a Preliminary. — In the same way, a 
student who has studied his lesson and has learned the 
facts reported in his text is now merely ready to 
discover the relation existing between those facts and 
the general principles of which the facts are manifes- 
tations. This is the part of the recitation in which 
the greater number of teachers fail, and it is the one 
in which the manifestation of the greatest skill on the 
part of the teacher may appear. This element of the 
recitation shows whether the teacher is an artist in 
his profession, or merely a plodder and an artisan. 

The Review Element. — But the recitation includes 
another element that must not be overlooked. This 
element is review. Review means looking at the sub- 
ject again, and every complete recitation must include 



244 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

something of review. Review is necessary in conse- 
quence of the great rapidity with which things are 
forgotten. In the first twenty-four hours after a 
thing has been learned, about two-thirds of it is for- 
gotten ; in six days about three-fourths, and in a 
month about four-fifths. The first few hours after 
learning involve the larger amount of forgetting. 
Review, or relearning, is necessary for fixing in the 
mind the things that have been learned, so that they 
may become a permanent possession. Nothing ever 
becomes a permanent possession by a single learning, 
but must be repeated and relearned. 

Necessity for Review. — There is another reason for 
review. The things that were learned in yesterdays 
lesson are needed in today's. We wish to discover the 
relations between the ideas expressed in yesterday's 
lesson and those expressed in today's, and in order to 
perceive the relations most clearly, we need to have 
the ideas of both lessons as clearly in mind as possible. 
The apperceiving mass must be as fresh and as avail- 
able for service as it is possible to have it. Only in. 
this way can we make the best use of what we have 
already learned. 

Time for Reviews. — Review may come either at the 
beginning of the lesson, or at the conclusion of the 
test. Its proper place is at the beginning of the 
lesson period, for by placing it there we are able to 
make use of the freshly reviewed knowledge in a way 
that would be impossible if it were placed after the 



THE RECITATION 245 

test. The disadvantage of placing the review at the 
beginning of the recitation period is a strong proba- 
bility that the teacher and the class will spend so 
much time in reviewing that there will not be suffi- 
cient to cover the new work. Pupils are likely to be 
more skillful in forgetting than the most cautious 
teacher is able to give them credit for ; and while the 
necessity for reviewing is thus more strongly empha- 
sized, the amount of time demanded by the process is 
startlinglv exaggerated. 

A Practical Difficulty. — If the review is thus pro- 
longed, and the advance lesson not fully covered, then 
it is a matter worthy of careful consideration just 
where the next day's recitation shall begin. Shall 
the teacher begin the recitation of the following day 
with the advance lesson assigned, or shall he begin at 
the place where the recitation closed? To begin with 
the advance means that there shall be a hiatus ofun- 
recited material from which no benefit is derived in 
the recitation. However, it appears that the advan- 
tages of this plan of beginning with the advance will 
outweigh the advantage of the other. It keeps faith 
with the class, and it serves as an inducement to the 
teacher to see that the entire lesson is covered in 
every recitation. Otherwise, there arises an uncertainty 
about every lesson, which is conducive to anything 
rather than to consistent study on the part of the 
pupils. We may begin at the beginning of every 
lesson, and let each lesson take care of itself. 



246 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Form of the Reviezv. — The review ought to be not 
merely a repetition. It may have been recited seriatim 
yesterday. In today's review we may begin with the 
central thought and organize around it all the rest 
of the lesson material. We need in the review to look 
at the subject from a new angle if possible, and that 
review is best which differs somewhat from the recita- 
tion of the day before. 

Purpose of Drill. — Drill is a more emphatic form of 
review, whose purpose is to make the subject mat- 
ter a permanent possession. We drill to secure such 
familiarity with some portions of knowledge that we 
may have them at hand without effort in recalling 
them. We need to know some things automatically, 
without thinking about them. It is, in some cases, a 
perfectly proper demand on the part of the teacher to 
say to a pupil, "I do not want you to think, I want 
you to know." We need to know some things with- 
out thinking. We need to acquire the kind of fam- 
iliarity that comes from drill in case of the multiplica- 
tion table, the spelling of certain words, the processes 
of arithmetic, the shape and phonetic value of the let- 
ters of the alphabet. 

Devices in Drill. — The difficulty in drill is to main- 
tain the interest and attention of the children with- 
out weariness, until the processes of drill have ac- 
complished the purpose for which it is intended. Here 
the teacher needs to be skillful in devices. The de- 
vice of headmarks in spelling, of competitive stand- 



THE RECITATION 247 

ings in grammar or geography, the device of prob- 
lems in arithmetic, — for problems are generally de- 
vices for drill involving an appeal to the puzzle in- 
stinct, rather than statements of principles, — all of 
these devices may secure the attention and interest of 
children while the drill is continued long enough to 
fix the principles and processes in the mind. The 
principal difficulty is that when once a teacher has 
secured a satisfactory device for drill, which holds the 
interest of the children, he is likely to think that he 
has discovered a new process of teaching, and will 
work the device to a funereal conclusion. Such an 
exaggeration of drill as we have seen in some so- 
called methods of arithmetic is likely to be injurious 
to children rather than helpful. 

The Assignment as an Element. — A fourth element 
in the recitation is the assignment of the lesson. It 
is not a teaching element, but it is a matter of such 
essential importance to successful preparation of the 
lesson on the part of the children that it easily as- 
sumes the first place in the list of things to be done in 
the time of recitation. A teacher who carelessly 
turns over the pages of a book at the end of the hour 
and says "Take to the bottom of page 131," has not 
made a good assignment. In order to make the as- 
signment, the teacher must study the lesson, not 
merely read it over, before the assignment is made. 
He must know where the hard places are, and what 
difficulties are Hkelv to- be encountered. He must know 



248 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the relation of this lesson to the lessons that have 
preceded it, and why this lesson is necessary to the 
proper understanding of the lessons that are to follow. 
This may necessitate a rearrangement of the order 
of the text-book matter according to the needs of the 
children and the comprehension of the teacher. Until 
the teacher knows the lesson in this way, he is not 
ready to make a good assignment. 

Time for Assignment. — The assignment may be made 
at the beginning of the recitation period or at the end 
of it. The- disadvantage of waiting to the end of the 
recitation period to make the assignment is that nearly 
always in such a case there will not be time enough to 
make the assignment in the proper way, and poorly 
prepared lessons will result. If the assignment is 
made at the beginning of the recitation period, there 
will always be sufficient time to make the assignment 
properly, although it has some attendant disadvan- 
tages. It may take too much time, and the time for 
the other elements of the recitation may be thus un- 
duly shortened. 

Advantage of Late Assignment. — There is a distinct 
advantage in making the assignment in the light of 
the recitation that has preceded it. The recitation 
itself may not be so satisfactory as the teacher has 
supposed that it would be, and the lesson assigned at 
the beginning of the period may be shown by the 
recitation to be too long,, or too short, or in some 
other respect not best adapted to the needs of the 



THE RECITATION 249 

class. If such should be the case, there will be a 
necessity for modifying the assignment. However, 
with lessons that need careful assignment, and nearly 
all lessons do, the beginning of the recitation period 
will be found rather more satisfactory. One very ex- 
cellent teacher of geography frequently occupied half 
of the recitation period in making the assignment and 
the lessons were always well studied by the pupils. 
Sometimes in extreme cases the entire recitation per- 
iod may be occupied by the assignment, and the recita- 
tion may follow the next day. This is sometimes 
called a lecture form of recitation, although in such 
cases it is not a proper designation for the exercise. 
A Good Assignment. — A poor assignment is likely 
to result in poorly prepared lessons on the part of 
the pupils ; a good assignment will greatly encourage 
successful study. Not only should the pupils know 
what are the important parts of the lesson assigned, 
but they should be given some directions about how 
to go to work to study it, and such information about 
it as will awaken sufficient interest to induce study. 
We have seen that it is impossible to be interested 
in anything about which we know nothing, and whose 
relations to ourselves, or to something which we al- 
ready know, are undiscernible. So the teacher in 
making the assignment may give sufficient informa- 
tion to arouse interest, and not so much as to de- 
stroy it. 

All illustrations here employed have been such as 



250 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

will apply to a class from the fifth grade who are using 
a text-book as the basis of their study. Under other 
conditions a modification of these suggestions will be 
imperative. The preceding statements have illustrated, 
however, a general principle which will apply with 
modifications to all kinds of recitations., 

Synopsis. 

1. The recitation is the most important factor in 
all school work. 

2. A recitation includes four elements : testing, 
teaching, review and assignment. 

3. The testing element is employed principally as 
an inducement to study, and is not in itself an essen- 
tial part of the lesson. The teaching element is the 
heart of the lesson, and demands thinking, or the 
perception of relations by the pupil. 



CHAPTER XV. 
Different Forms of Recitation. 

What Form of Recitation Means. — For our present 
purpose we may distinguish the form of the recitation 
from the method of the recitation. By form of reci- 
tation we shall mean in this chapter the procedure in- 
volved in the management of the class as a whole 
during the recitation period, while by method we 
shall mean the procedure relating to the single in- 
dividual who is called upon to recite. There is noth- 
ing essential in this distinction, and it is used here 
merely as a matter of convenience. 

Concert Recitation. — The first form of recitation 
which we wish to consider is the concert recitation. 
It is mentioned mostly for the purpose of condemna- 
tion, although some teachers have a great fondness 
for it. At one time it was very popular in the schools 
of this country, and we can trace it back a long way 
in the history of education. It was most easily ap- 
plied to a catechetical system of instruction in which 
questions were printed in a book and the answers fol- 
lowed. The answers were expected to be committed 
to memory and recited. 

To What Limited. — In the concert form of recitation, 
251 



2o2 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

all the pupils in a class say the same words at the 
same time. It is limited to those recitations in which 
a set form of words may be used. This concert form 
of recitation is employed in teaching reading, per- 
haps more frequently than in any other subject, at the 
present time. It is evident that the teacher cannot 
know what each member of the class is thinking in 
this case, nor where each pupil is mentally located 
at any time, nor how adequately the thought is ex- 
pressed, so the primary purpose of the recitation is 
defeated. Boys have been known, in a class in con- 
cert reading, deliberately to mispronounce words, sub- 
stitute words of their own for the words of the text, 
and to give ludicrous misinterpretations to the thought 
of the selection that was being read, without the 
knowledge of the teacher or any other members of 
the class than their immediate neighbors. Any form 
of recitation that affords opportunity for such disrup- 
tions of unity must be condemned. 

Singing Geography. — Grammar, arithmetic, and geo- 
raphy are sometimes taught by the concert form of 
recitation. Years ago children were taught to re- 
member their geography lesson by singing it. "Maine, 
Augusta ; Maine, Augusta ; on the Kennebec River" 
represents the kind of geography which it was neces- 
sary for the children to sing in order to remember it. 
Singing geography involved the employment of the 
concert form of recitation, and may be taken as a 
rather typical example. 



FORMS OF RECITATION 253 

Illustration of Concert Evils. — A teacher who was 
a county superintendent had a great fondness for con- 
cert recitation. He was teaching a grammar class, and 
lined them up at the blackboard around the room. 
Each pupil wrote the sentence which the teacher pro- 
nounced, then using the formula for parsing and an- 
alysis which all had learned and which was rigidly 
adhered to, they parsed every word. Each pupil in the 
class who knew his lesson tried to make himself heard 
above all the others. Two boys represented the mas- 
culine contingent — (grammar was never a favorite 
subject in that school with the boys) — and their vocal 
contribution was "wow-wow-wow-wow," recited with 
solemn countenance and inward hilarity. It served the 
purpose of increasing the volume of sound, and the 
teacher was blissfully unconscious that they were not 
participating in the recitation. 

Utility of Concert Recitation. — Concert recitation has 
a limited field of usefulness. In class singing, of 
course, concert recitation is the one great aim. In 
learning the phonetic values of the English letters, 
where there must be sufficient drill to produce a mus- 
cular memory, the drill may profitably be accom- 
plished in concert. So drill upon certain formulae, 
or memory gems, or the multiplication table may be 
profitably accomplished by concert exercise. There 
is an additional value sometimes in the fact that 
timid pupils may wear away their timidity by speaking 
together with other members of the class. 



254 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

The Text-book Form. — The second form is the text- 
book recitation. This kind of recitation assumes that 
each pupil has a text-book from which lessons have 
been assigned and studied. Pupils have read and re- 
membered the lesson, and are called upon to recite. 
The teacher requires of them that they reproduce what 
they have learned, thus making of it a testing lesson. 
We have already seen that the lesson should be a 
study lesson, or a teaching lesson, as well as a testing 
lesson, although the test is the only thing that many 
teachers attempt to get from it. If the pupils can be 
trusted, the test may be omitted, and the study lesson, 
whose principal element is the perception of relations 
existing between the ideas that have been read and 
remembered, may be adopted as sufficient test ; for 
certainly the pupils cannot state the relations exist- 
ing between different ideas, unless they know what the 
ideas are. 

Advantages of Text-books. — The text-book recitation 
is the principal form of teaching employed in the 
schools of the United States, and it will probably be 
a long time before any other is generally adopted. 
The advantages of the text-book lesson are many and 
great. The text-book organizes the subject in a satis- 
factory manner; it selects the proper kind and quality 
of material ; it furnishes a large amount of helpful 
exercises, and it states directly facts that may be util- 
ized in teaching. In so far as it does these things sat- 
isfactorily, it enables the pupil to work independently 



FORMS OF RECITATION ZOD 

of the teacher, and so conserves his energy. Without 
a text-hook, a large amount of energy must be de- 
voted by the teacher to the preparation of work for the 
pupils to do, and placing it before them in such a 
manner that they can proceed to do it. The text-book 
saves a large amount of the teacher's time, which 
would otherwise be devoted to writing on the black- 
board. 

Advantage in Doing Without Text-book. — Notwith- 
standing the advantages of a text-book, it is quite de- 
monstrable that the teacher who will dispense with it 
will do better teaching than will one who depends 
largely upon it in teaching. There is such a thing as 
a tyranny of the text-book, from which it is difficult 
to free one's self and still use it. Observation of the 
teaching of classes in zoology, botany, chemistry, and 
physics has led to the belief that under equally favor- 
able circumstances, classes not using a text-book ex- 
celled those that did use it by twenty-five per cent. 

Disadvantage of Text-books. — The reasons for this 
improvement are several. No text-book is written for 
a particular class, nor exactly adapted to it. A text- 
book written by a teacher in Massachusetts may be 
used by schools in Michigan or in California, in 
schools the like of which the author of the book has 
never seen. It cannot, therefore, be exactly adapted 
to such schools. The case is quite as bad in high 
schools. A university professor, whose work is all 
advanced work will not hesitate to write a book for 



256 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

high school classes such as he has never had any ex- 
perience in teaching. Even for the elementary schools, 
a professor of mathematics will have no hesitation in 
preparing a book on arithmetic. The lack of adapta- 
bility is a serious matter, especially in view of what 
has been said in Chapter IX about the basis of interests. 
Interest depends upon the perception of the relation 
of the thing studied to ourselves. The problems in 
arithmetic, for example, ought to take a different as- 
pect for the children in a dairying community from 
those that are employed in a manufacturing district; 
and these will be different, again, from those employed 
in a community devoted to mining or to general agri- 
culture. We cannot have a series of problems that 
shall be merely school problems, adapted to all schools, 
without divorcing school from community life and 
lessening the element of interest. The school is an ex- 
pression of the life of the community, and the school 
exercises ought to reflect that life. 

Arrangement of Subject Matter. — In the second place, 
the order of topics in the book may not be that which 
the teacher believes to be best, but it is generally bet- 
ter to follow the order of the text, if the book is to 
be used at all. No matter what arrangement of topics is 
adopted in the text, the treatment of all topics con- 
forms to the requirements of that order. A topic in 
the text presupposes in its treatment that the preced- 
ing topics have been discussed; hence, to rearrange the 
topics, demands a readjustment of the entire book to 



FORMS OF RECITATION 257 

the new order. Then, too, the book may lay emphasis 
upon one topic, or series of topics, when in the judg- 
ment of the teacher, the good of the class demands that 
the emphasis be placed upon another topic, and the 
entire subject be organized around that topic, or series 
of topics, as a center. In this way the text-book may 
prevent a teacher's doing his best work. 

Why Text-books are Valuable. — Notwithstanding 
these evident advantages of doing without a text- 
book, it will be impossible for many years to abandon 
its use to any considerable extent. The text-book de- 
rives its value very largely from the limitations of the 
teacher. So long as one-fourth of our teachers enter 
upon the work of teaching every year, and only a small 
proportion of them have had any special preparation 
for teaching; and so long as teachers with little ex- 
perience are called upon to teach a variety of subjects 
and conduct a large number of classes each day, the 
text-book is a positive necessity. 

Conditions Necessary to do Without Text-book. — 
In order to teach better without a text-book than with 
one, the teacher must have such knowledge of the sub- 
ject that he can make a better text-book, for his own 
school at least, than the one with which his classes are 
furnished, if it should become necessary to do so. Not 
a large number of our teachers are scholars of this 
kind. Then the teacher must have had experience in 
teaching the same subject in the same situation with 
the same course of study for several years, or he will 



258 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

fail to make a satisfactory adjustment of the work. 
Since these conditions do not generally prevail, we 
shall not soon be able to dispense with the text-books 
with advantage to the teaching. 

Lecture Form. — The third form of recitation is the 
lecture form. This is found especially in colleges and 
universities, although it is frequently attempted with in- 
different success in high schools, and even in the 
grades below. It demands a class of students who are 
able to study by themselves, and who have the ability 
to follow a train of thought with considerable accuracy. 
It is telling rather than teaching. It demands for its 
best result a considerable knowledge of the subject on 
the part of the pupil, and a large apperceiving basis, 
so that the new ideas may be joined promptly to the 
old, and find their appropriate place with little delay. 
Hence it is adapted to only the most advanced work. 

Proper Place for the Lecture Form. — Properly, the 
lecturer is an investigator who reports in his lectures 
the results of his investigations. He knows things that 
are too recently discovered to have appeared in the 
text-books. The lecture form permits great freedom 
to the teacher and enables him to give the best of him- 
self to his class. Its disadvantages are that it makes 
no imperative demand upon the pupil. It does not 
contemplate an immediate reproduction of the lecture, 
and no demand is made upon the pupil for thinking 
about it, or perceiving relations between the ideas ex- 
pressed. The lecture is poured out over the class, and 



FORMS OF RECITATION 259 

they may absorb as much or as little of it as they are 
able. 

A Modification of the Lecture Form. — There is a 
kind of teaching that closely simulates the lecture 
form without its disadvantages. In this form of recita- 
tion the subject-matter of the lesson is stated orally, 
or in the form of a lecture, but the lecture is expected 
to be reported upon, studied, reproduced, organized 
in thought as a preparation for reciting upon it. The 
reproduction may be in writing, or it may be merely 
thought over. The lecture constitutes the assignment 
of the lesson, the reproduction in writing or otherwise, 
constitutes the study of the lesson, and the recitation 
constitutes the test. By this means all that is valu- 
able in the lecture form is preserved and most of the dis- 
advantages are eliminated. 

One Advantage of the Lecture. — There is one ad- 
vantage peculiar to the lecture form of recitation itself. 
Some persons are ear-minded, and learn things more 
readily by hearing than by seeing them. Such persons 
find the lecture form a distinct advantage. Other per- 
sons are eye-minded, and must see a thing before they 
can learn it. Such persons are at a disadvantage under 
the lecture form of recitation. With the greater num- 
ber of people, both seeing and hearing are available as 
means for learning, hence a combination of text-book 
and oral instruction is generally serviceable. 

Development Recitation. — A fourth form of recita- 
tion is the development lesson. This form is found at 



260 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

its best in the German schools, and is widely advo- 
cated in our own country. In the development form 
of recitation, the children are supposed to know some- 
thing of the subject to start with. Using what the 
children already know as a basis, the teacher sets for 
them a problem, and holds their attention to the mat- 
ter until they arrive at its solution. Then he sets for 
them another problem, using as one of the factors the 
solution that has been reached in the preceding prob- 
lem. 

This form of recitation emphasizes the element of 
thinking, or perceiving relations, which we have seen is 
the element of greatest deficiency in most teaching. 
The development form of recitation keeps the children 
thinking, and so far as it does this more successfully 
than other forms, it is to be preferred to them. It is 
almost an ideal method for accomplishing the pur- 
poses for which it is adapted. 

Limitations of the Development Lesson. — It has, how- 
ever, like other forms of recitation, its serious limita- 
tions. It must be employed by a skillful teacher, or it 
degenerates into a burlesque. Not all things are sus- 
ceptible to treatment in this form. It is admirable for 
showing forth relations existing between ideas, but it 
is useless for obtaining new ideas. Facts can seldom 
be developed or treated by the development method. 
It is impossible to develop the facts about the num- 
ber of bones in the neck or the number of days in 
the week, or the phonetic value of ough in an unfa- 



FORMS OF RECITATION 



261 



miliar combination. One teacher developed very skill- 
fully the manner in which seeds were disseminated, us- 
ing a banana as the basis for the development lesson. 
So a kindergarten teacher developed readily the fact 
that the pictured rocks along Lake Superior were 
bluffs showing smooth surfaces on which the Indians 
had painted scenes such as are represented in Hiawa- 
tha. The danger in depending upon the development 
essons as a chief resource is that so many things will be 
developed that are not so. Inference, reasoning, is at 
best in constant need of verification by an appeal to 
facts, or first-hand knowledge. Only where some neces- 
sary connection exists between two things is a genuine 
development lesson possible. 

Question and Answer Method. — Leaving now the 
different forms of recitation, let us examine the method 
of reciting as applied to the individual pupil. The 
teacher usually indicates the place of beginning, o." 
the starting point on the mental path along which the 
pupil must travel, by a question, or demand, or remark 
about the lesson. When it is indicated by a question, 
we have the method of recitation that is called the 
Question and Answer method. This is the only method 
that some teachers employ, and its use is so nearlv 
universal that there is great need to study it carefully. 
It demands a very considerable knowledge of the sub- 
ject to ask questions about it intelligently. It is quite 
as satisfactory a method of testing the knowledge of a 
class to demand that they ask questions, as it is that 



2<jJ PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

they answer questions already asked. If a teacher is 
to depend upon the question and answer method for 
his teaching, he must give heed to the manner of his 
questioning. There is an art in questioning. The 
questions should not ordinarily be leading questions ; 
that is, no part of the answer should be implied in the 
question. Sometimes a teacher will ask a question in 
such a way that the pupil has a clear understanding 
of what the answer must be without having any un- 
derstanding of the subject at all, thus encouraging him 
to rely upon help from the teacher rather than upon his 
own efforts. 

Two Kinds of Questions. — Questions may be of two 
kinds. It may be a question that demands a state- 
ment of the fact which the child is supposed to know, 
or it may be a question that demands a statement of 
the relation existing between two facts, or ideas. The 
latter form of question is the higher form, and is more 
difficult to frame. 

Alternative Questions. — Questions that may be an- 
swered by yes or no are not ordinarily very good ques- 
tions, because they demand little thought and offer 
great opportunities for guessing. A person could an- 
swer such questions at random and be correct about 
half the time. This, however, does not imply that 
alternative questions should never be asked. Some- 
times definiteness of statement demands that a pupil 
should state an opinion or an answer by yes or no. 

Definiteness of Questions. — Questions must be definite. 



FORMS OF RECITATION 263 

There should be no opportunity for a pupil to beat 
about the bush in answering it, or to answer by an ir- 
relevant statement. There should be no uncertainty 
about its meaning. A question that may be answered 
in half a dozen different ways is not likely to lead to 
exactness and accuracy of statement on the part of the 
pupil. A good question is one that has a definite part 
in the development of the lesson. 

Questions Represent a Movement of Thought. — A 
lesson must represent a movement of thought, and this 
movement must be in a determined direction. It must 
have a definite starting point and a predetermined aim. 
It is the business of the recitation to develop the train 
of thought from the starting point to the termination 
aimed at. No question is good that leads away from 
the main thought. The steady and straight line of 
thought which the pupil must follow in the develop- 
ment of the lesson is largely determined by the in- 
sight with which the teacher asks the questions. 
Teachers sometimes fail seriously in this respect. 
Sometimes questions are asked aimlessly and without 
any very definite meaning, apparently for the purpose 
of enabling the teacher to keep on talking. 

'Repetition of Questions. — Ordinarily, when the ques- 
tion has been asked once, it should not be repeated. If 
children find that they may have a question repeated 
as many times as they wish, there will not be the 
same feeling of responsibility for hearing the question 
when it is asked, as there would be if thev knew that 



264 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

it would be asked only once. Each pupil must feel 
an individual responsibility for hearing the question, 
or it will be impossible to maintain the unity of the 
class. 

Subsidiary Questions. — The starting point in the train 
of thought is indicated by the question ; but in order 
to make the thought clear and definite, it is frequently 
necessary that the teacher should ask subsidiary ques- 
tions to direct the thought of the pupil along the 
proper channel. It is impossible to plan these sub- 
sidiary questions in advance, for they are determined 
by the mental location of the pupil who is reciting at 
any instant. These questions are generally briefer, 
more pointed, more definite, and allow much less lati- 
tude in answering than does the main question which 
has started the train of thought. It is not often wise 
to allow the recitation of a single pupil to terminate 
with the answer to a single question. The pupil should 
be reciting a sufficient length of time to develop the 
train of thought which a good question will suggest. 
The teacher who calls upon twenty pupils to answer 
twenty questions in ten minutes is not likely to be do- 
ing very good teaching. The replies are not likely to 
constitute such a sequence of thought as to give the 
pupils skill in consecutive thinking. 

The Topical Method. — But the teacher is not limited 
to the question and answer method in calling upon 
pupils to recite. The topical method of recitation, in- 
stead of asking a question, states a topic and asks the 



FORMS OF RECITATION 265 

pupil, who is designated to recite, to discuss it; by 
this is meant that he shall tell all he knows about it in 
the connection that it has in the lesson. 

In order to recite well upon a topic, it is necessary 
to analyze it into its several parts and to indicate the 
relation of the several parts. This demands a power 
of analysis that is not found among younger pupils, 
hence the topical method is available for pupils in the 
upper grades rather than for those in the lower. The 
pupil reciting by a topical method receives and expects 
less assistance from the teacher than if the question 
and answer method is employed. To develop a topic 
by means of questions would require several or many 
of them. The overcoming of the difficulties involved 
in the treatment of a topic, however, is a training in 
consecutive thinking that is not likely to be obtained 
by a question and answer method. 

The Written Method.- — The written lesson must; be 
considered a method of recitation. Written lessons 
are necessary to induce habits of clear and definite ex- 
pression. Writing makes pupils exact and careful in 
their statements. When a paragraph has been written 
and the pupil reads it over, he sees the mistake in 
statement and in expression, and a more salutary ef- 
fect is derived from the recognition of his errors than 
is likely to come from an oral recitation. There is this 
additional advantage in a written lesson : the teacher 
is able to make a direct comparison of the different 
pupils upon the same topics, which is sometimes rather 



266 PRINCIPLES OF TEACPIING 

a more satisfactory comparison than is possible when 
they recite orally upon different topics. It has the 
disadvantage of demanding a large amount of time on 
the part of the teacher to read all that the pupils have 
written. It is a question how much time the teacher 
can profitably devote to the reading of written papers. 
This disadvantage is so serious that teachers are justi- 
fied in minimizing the amount of written work as- 
signed. However, the written lesson can never be 
safely dispensed with in any grade that involves inde- 
pendent study and recitation. 

Two Kinds of Written Topics. — Topics for a written 
lesson may be made upon tw r o plans. In one plan, the 
topics may be very sharp and pointed, calling for 
definite statements and capable of being answered in 
a very brief manner. This kind of written topic has 
the advantage of enabling the teacher to read the pa- 
pers rapidly, and it enables pupils to manifest their, 
knowledge of the subject in a definite way. The other 
kind of topic is broader and permits the pupil to tell 
almost everything that he knows about the subject 
under consideration. This latter kind of topic gen- 
erally results in much longer papers demanding greater 
time on the part of the teacher to read them. 

The Written Examination. — As a fourth method of 
recitation we may consider the written examination, 
which is merely an elaboration of the written lesson. 
The written examination, however, differs from the 
written lesson usually in being less frequent, and con- 



FORMS OF RECITATION 267 

sequently more formal in character. It generally has 
greater emphasis attached to it, and greater responsi- 
bility is felt to do well in the writing. The topics 
usually cover a greater range of the subject, and some- 
times a longer time is allowed for it. 

Criticism of Examinations. — Examinations have been 
much decried, and they are quite under ban in manv 
schools. It seems, however, that not all the criticismb 
upon them are well founded. The principal objections 
raised to them are derived from the great weight that 
is attached to them in their determination of the pupil's 
standing. Sometimes the entire standing of the pupil 
has depended upon the examination. This emphasis 
placed upon them, and the nervous strain developed in 
consequence, has resulted in serious injury to some 
children, which with partial justice has been attributed 
to the examination. 

Compensation of Errors. — Another objection to the 
examination has been that it does not permit the pupil 
to tell all that he may know about the subject. Some 
topics in the examination may be just the things with 
which he is unacquainted, and the result of the ex- 
amination does not indicate his real knowledge of the 
subject. There are two replies to be made to this 
objection : One is that the application of the doctrine 
of averages is intended to correct errors of this nature. 
The number of topics stated is usually great enough 
to create a strong probability that the average of the 
answers will show the average knowledge of the sub- 
ject. 



268 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Examinations Show Pozver Rather Than Knowledge. 
— The second answer is that the examination is not in- 
tended to show the extent of the pupil's knowledge of 
the subject, but rather to permit him to manifest his 
power. It is designed to enable him to show what he 
can do in such a situation. To this end it is perfectly 
proper to select topics that have not been treated in 
the general study of the subject. Instead of assigning 
problems in arthmetic that have been studied in the 
daily lesson, it is perfectly reasonable to select other 
problems that have not been studied, but which in- 
volve the same principles as those which have been 
studied. 

Show' Ability to Write Clearly. — The examination is 
a test of the pupil's ability to write clearly and intelli- 
gently about the subject in hand. A proper knowledge 
of the subject is a very desirable preparation for the 
examination, but a person who knows a great deal 
about the subject may not write such a satisfactory 
examination as one whose knowledge is less complete 
but who has greater facility in telling what he knows. 
His smaller amount of knowledge may be more avail- 
able for use. In such a case it is only a matter of justice 
that the one who manifests more power in using the 
knowledge he has should be recognized as excelling 
the one whose knowledge is greater. 

Cramming for Examination. — A temporary intensity 
of study is called cramming. It has been charged that 
examination has a tendency to lead to this kind of 



FORMS OF RECITATION 269 

study. If the same intensity of study were continued 
for a long time it would not be called cramming. In- 
tensive study in itself is a good thing if it shows the 
pupil how much he is really able to do. It is desirable 
that at some time a pupil shall learn how much and 
how hard he can study. If examinations produce pres- 
sure sufficient to bring out a consciousness of the pupil's 
full ability, it is advantageous for that purpose. Awful 
examples of over study that are cited as the result of 
examinations really do occur, but the probability is 
that, in the greater number of such cases, the injury 
is less attributable to the examination than to the ex- 
isting condition of the child, who, perhaps, ought not 
to be in school at all. Children sometimes receive in- 
jury from attending school, but this is not sufficient 
reason for closing the school and abandoning the pro- 
cesses of education. It is rather a demand that we 
shall give greater attention to the physical condition of 
children who are in attendance. Most of the over 
pressure that is attributed to the school and to the 
examinations comes not from school work, but from 
conditions and situations in no ways connected with 
the legitimate work of the school. 
Synopsis. 
1. We may distinguish the form of the recitation 
from the method of recitation; meaning by form the 
management of the class as a whole, while method may 
mean the management of the individual pupil who is 
reciting, 



270 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

2. We may recognize four different forms of recita- 
tion ; concert, text-book, lecture and development 
forms. 

3. We may recognize three different methods of 
calling upon individual pupils to recite ; question and 
answer, topical, written. Examinations may be classed 
with the written lessons. 

4. Since the question and answer method is such 
a common method of recitation, the art of questioning 
demands special study. 



CHAPTER XVI 

School Discipline 

Importance of Discipline. — There are two elements 
in school work, teaching and discipline, both of which 
are absolutely essential. The school cannot accomplish 
the end for which it is established unless the teaching 
is good, and the teaching cannot be good unless good 
discipline is maintained. While both are necessary, in 
the order of time, good discipline comes first, for it is 
a pre-requisite to good teaching. No school can be 
well taught, that is not well governed. On the other 
hand, one of the most efficient means of securing good 
order is to do good teaching. By means of the proper 
kind of teaching, a school can be governed most ef- 
fectively. » 

More Important Than Teaching. — If it were possible 
to separate these two elements and to have one of them 
manifested without the other, it were better to have a 
school well governed without being well taught, than to 
have it well taught without being well governed. A 
child will receive more benefit, or less injury, from at- 
tending a school where the discipline is good and the 
teaching poor, than he will from attending a school 
where the discipline is poor and the teaching as good 
as the discipline will permit. 

271 



272 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Young Teachers Fail in Discipline. — Many young 
teachers fail in their first term of teaching, and such 
failures are, in much the larger number of cases, fail- 
ures in discipline rather than in teaching. The failure 
may not be so serious as to lead to the discharge of 
the teacher, but he will recognize that he has failed. 
The children will whisper and play and be idle and 
fail to learn their lessons, so that all attempts on the 
part of the teacher to teach well will be nullified and an 
improper spirit will pervade the school. The teacher 
will feel that he could do good teaching if the children 
would only behave and let him teach, but the chidren 
will not behave in the manner desired. This is the 
situation in which many young teachers find them- 
selves. 

Kind of Teachers Who Fail in Discipline. — In much 
the larger number of failures in discipline, the failure 
will be on the part of .young teachers who have been 
well-behaved pupils in school themselves. They have 
not whispered nor thrown paper wads nor played hookey 
nor idled away their time. The young teachers who 
have themselves been guilty of all these offenses in 
school are the persons least likely to fail in discipline 
in their first term's teaching. Now what is the occa- 
sion for this difference, and what advice shall we give? 
Shall we advise all young persons who wish to teach and 
to take the greatest precautions against failure in 
discipline to proceed at once to become disobedient and 
lawless pupils in school? Evidently such advice is 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 273 

dangerous in its character. We need to understand 
what it is that enables teachers who have themselves 
been disobedient and disorderly in school to maintain 
discipline when they become teachers. 

Why Young Teachers Fail. — The difference between 
the two kinds of teachers is to be found in the fact that 
those who have been disobedient and lawless pupils in 
school understand exactly the habits of thought of those 
children who constitute the offenders against school 
discipline, while the teachers who have been good 
pupils in school have little idea how such offenders 
think about school regulations, and fail to understand 
the attitude' of mind which they maintain toward 
school discipline. The teacher who has himself some- 
time been guilty of all school offenses knows how such 
children think and feel, and is able to approach them 
in the most effective way. It is only when the teacher 
comes to understand the motives and habits of thought 
of these disorderly pupils that he becomes able to con- 
trol a room and a school. The first thing, then, is to 
come to an understanding of the way in which dis- 
orderly pupils feel and think. When such an under- 
standing has been acquired, there will be no difficulty 
experienced in maintaining discipline. 

Necessity for a Clear Idea of Good Order. — This 
knowledge of the mental habits of children is the first 
condition for maintaining good order in school. The 
second is also of importance. The teacher must have 
an adequate notion of the kind of behavior which con- 



2/4 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

stitutes good order, and what infractions of discipline 
are likely to occur in any series of situations. If the 
teacher has an idea of what constitutes good order, and 
can hold it clearly before his mind, the children are 
sure to imitate the idea that he holds, and to receive 
the suggestion of good order from him. The principle 
of unconscious imitation will work this idea out into 
the kind of behavior which the teacher accepts as his 
ideal. 

Theory of No Restraint. — Here we are confronted 
with a theory of discipline in school which was found 
advocates among some of the greatest educational 
philosophers of the country. This theory is that there 
must be no restraint exercised upon the conduct of the 
children in school. The actions of the children must 
be an expression of their own characters at any time, 
and any mode of behavior which is in conformity with 
their character, is a proper and necessary condition for 
their growth in school. Hence there must be no re- 
straint upon behavior, no coercion, no punishment; but 
everything" that is natural to the situations in which they 
find themselves placed constitutes proper behavior 
and the school must adapt its workings to that 
behavior. 

The result is not always in very close conformity 
to our preconceived notions of what schoolroom be- 
havior ought to be. If children shout, and kick each 
other off the seat, and whack each other over the head 
with rulers, it is not disorder, but an expression of their 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 275 

individualities, which must not be subjected to repres- 
sion. Rather it is the fault of the teacher who has failed 
to inspire them with a desire to do those things which 
do not include as constituent elements such excrescent 
actions. The child must be free to do these things in 
school which constitute improper behavior as well as 
proper behavior. Interest and freedom are the key words 
to discipline, according to this theory. No coercion, no 
restraint must be permitted, and there is no place for 
punishment in this scheme. 

Origin of Such Theory. — It is probable that this 
theory is in part the result of a reaction against the 
rigid discipline of earlier school days, in which disci- 
pline was made an end in itself, and which was in per- 
fect consonance with the puritanical idea that anything 
that was pleasant was sinful, and anything unpleasant 
was helpful to the development of the moral nature. 
Behavior was determined in all cases, arbitrarily, by 
the will of the teacher, and there was a constant line 
of demarcation between the teacher and the school. 
Hence it was that discipline became a purely artificial 
circumstance in the conduct of the school, and its main- 
tenance meant the survival of the fittest in the struggle 
between the teacher and the pupils. 

The Good in the Theory. — The philosophy underlying 
the theory of discipline under discussion, that there is 
never any disorder in school, needs to be examined. 
The truth that there is in it seems to' be involved in the 
principle of imitation. The teacher who strenuously 



276 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

denies that there is disorder in the room, is at least not 
giving the contrary suggestion, which would lead to 
disorder. The teacher who is expecting good order is 
more likely to discover it than one who is suspicious 
and watchful for expressions of disorder, and he is 
furnishing a suggestion of good order which it is prob- 
able that the children will imitate. However, this kind 
of mental therapeutics will not produce good order 
in all cases. 

The Contrary Theory. — But there is a deeper mean- 
ing and a greater effect than is hereby indicated in the 
theory. The theory assumes that the actions appro- 
priate to the present development of the children are 
the actions which constitute good discipline and good 
behavior in school. The converse theory, which is in- 
volved in the discussion of discipline in this chapter, 
assumes that the state of development in advance of 
the one in which the children exist at present, is the 
one to which the actions of the children must conform. 
"A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a 
Heaven for?" 

Ideal of Behavior Must Change. — By suggestion, 
imitation, restraint, the children must be moved grad- 
ually from the lower ideal of activity and behavior to 
the higher ideal, and their actions must conform to 
this higher standard. Behavior that is in accord with 
the lower plane is not proper behavior, but proper be- 
havior is that which is appropriate to the higher plane. 
Only in an ethical atmosphere in which there is an in- 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 277 

■ ducement for a child to conform to the higher standard 
is the greatest growth possible. It is by this process 
of striving to conform to the higher standard that the 
child grows. 

Motive in Improving Behavior. — This ethical atmos- 
phere favorable to the mental and moral growth of the 
children is maintained by the force of the teacher's 
example, by the general expectation of the school and 
the community as a whole ; by direct commands, and 
even by punishment for infractions, if such conditions 
cannot be maintained without it. The suggestion of 
proper behavior is given by the teacher's expecting 
certain kinds of conduct to be manifested, and it is ex- 
tremely necessary that he should not give the con- 
tradictory suggestion of improper conduct. Hence it 
is unwise to issue pronunciamentos forbidding specific 
acts. The more clearly a thing is forbidden, the more 
likely it is to work itself out into action, not in conse- 
quence of any sense of depravity in the children, but of 
the psychological law that any idea which is clearly 
presented to a child's mind constitutes a motive to 
do the corresponding act. 

A Teacher's Ideal of Conduct. — A teacher must set 
before himself a proper ideal of conduct for the chil- 
dren in all possible relations. He should describe for 
himself the proper course of behavior for the children 
on the road to and from school ; upon the play ground ; 
in the school room ; toward school property ; toward 
the lesson; toward the teacher, and toward the other 



278 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

pupils. When lie has done this, he is prepared with 
an ideal such as the children may safely imitate, and 
he is prepared to decide when an infraction of dis- 
cipline has occurred. 

Infractions of Discipline. — Infractions of discipline 
will occur. They ought to be expected by the teacher, 
not in such a way as to constitute a motive to the chil- 
dren for infringing discipline, but in such a way that 
he may not lose his poise when they do occur. The 
attitude to assume is one of expecting the children to 
do the proper thing, but not to be surprised when the 
improper thing is done and to recognize the impulse 
from which it springs. 

CondiKt Conforms to Stage of Development. — Chil- 
dren commit infractions of discipline, not because of 
any inherent character of total depravity, but because 
they are in a lower stage of development than is repre- 
sented by the standard of conduct which the school 
establishes. The school establishes an ideal which is 
something for them to grow up to. Conditions ought 
to be of such a nature that they shall favor grow T th, and 
so long as the child is growing under the' influence of 
the school, there is no reason for the teacher to feel 
discouragement. We express the fact that conduct is 
a matter of development by saving, sometimes, that 
certain of the younger children are not old enough to 
know any better. We are especially discouraged by 
the conduct of some of the older children because, as 
we say, they are old enough to know better. These 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 279 

expressions in themselves imply that we recognize the 
element of growth as one of the conditions which ren- 
der a certain standard of conduct appropriate for every 
child. We may also account for the misbehavior of 
the older pupils as examples of retarded development. 
The pupil who is old enough to know better but whose 
conduct is not in conformity with the standards which 
the school establishes is still living in a stage of de- 
velopment, morally, through which he should have 
passed before he has reached his present age. 

Conduct on Road to School. — On the road to and 
from school, the children should walk promptly, and 
should reach home or should arrive at the school in a 
reasonable time. They should engage in proper con- 
versation and should play such games as will enable 
them to reach the home or the school promptly. They 
should greet passers-by cheerfully and politely. They 
should regard the rights of property on all occasions. 

Infractions of Discipline on Road to and From School. 
• — Infractions of discipline will occur. Children will 
sometimes fight and be impolite to strangers ; they will 
steal apples or destroy property. It may be asked 
whether the teacher has any jurisdiction over the chil- 
dren after they have left the school premises. There 
can be only one answer to the question. The teacher 
does have concurrent jurisdiction with the parent over 
the children on the road to and from school. Courts 
have held that the authority of the teacher over the 
children does not terminate so long as the children of 



280 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

two families are together, and that the teacher's au- 
thority begins as soon as the children of two families 
come together on the road to school. 

Hozv Deal With Infractions. — When infractions of 
discipline occur on the road to and from school, it is 
always wise for the teacher to throw the responsibility 
for determining who is the offender upon the person mak- 
ing the complaint. From the very nature of the case, 
it is usually a very difficult matter for the teacher to 
determine who the offender is. Occasionally, however, 
the teacher can determine the offender, and should deal 
with him directly. If, however, the teacher is unable 
to determine who it is, without calling the attention of 
the whole school and the entire neighborhood to the 
offense, it is usually better to let it pass without com- 
ment. Advertising an offense suggests its repetition. 
The proper ideal of conduct kept before the minds of 
the children will be found silently effective in produc- 
ing the proper results. 

Proper Behavior on Playground. — On the playground, 
the children should be kind, helpful, courteous to their 
playmates. They should engage in cooperative games 
and should be prompt in leaving off their play when 
the signal is given. Infractions of discipline are likely 
to occur on the playground. It is in the freedom of 
play that children manifest their state of development 
and their inherited disposition more completely than 
anywhere else. So serious are the infractions of dis- 
cipline and the possibility of evil practices being en- 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 281 

gendered upon the playground that the abolition of re- 
cess and the opportunities for children to play to- 
gether has been seriously advocated. The very free- 
dom which might permit the engendering of evil prac- 
tices is the best possible condition for the proper de- 
velopment of the moral and social natures of children. 
It is the business of the teacher to see that the play- 
ground accomplishes all that it may accomplish, with- 
out the evil results that it is possible for it to have. 

Supervision of the Playground. — Unless the teacher 
closely supervises the conduct of the pupils upon the 
playground, evil may result ; but if the teacher is in 
such a sympathetic attitude toward the children that 
he can participate in their games, or at least in the 
games of some portion of the children, in such a way 
as to give him a legitimate place on the playground, he 
has the opportunity of making the most out of the 
recess period. 

Illustration. — A superintendent of a village school 
organized a football game for the boys. He played 
with them regularly, while the other teachers attended 
to the behavior of the children in the building. It 
may have appeared undignified, to many persons, for 
the superintendent to tumble around on the ground 
with the boys, but it did not appear so to the boys, 
and it furnished him an opportunity to be upon the 
playground at all times and to reconcile any difficulty 
that might arise. Certainly it furnished him a means 
of obtaining a hold upon the school that would other- 



282 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

wise have been impossible. This is almost the ideal 
condition for the management of the playground. 

The Playground an Educative Agency. — The play- 
ground is not an evil to be tolerated, nor a necessary 
concomitant of school life, nor merely a means of re- 
cuperation from the fatigues of school work. It is a 
vitalizing, educative force in the experience of the 
children, and ought to be so regarded. The summer 
playgrounds instituted by the school boards in many 
cities are wisely considered as a legitimate feature of 
public school education. 

Two Playground Ideals. — There are two ideals mani- 
fested on the playgrounds in the schools of the United 
States. One is the German ideal, which indicates that 
all games and plays of children shall be supervised and 
played according to the direction of the teacher. Such 
games are to be selected as will contribute most to 
the development of the physical child. The other we 
may call the English ideal, which allows the utmost 
freedom of choice and of conduct to the children them- 
selves. It would seem that the playground accom- 
plishes what it may accomplish only when there is 
that perfect freedom which is indicated by the English 
system of play. Perhaps it is not too much to say 
that, according to the English system, the playground 
is more beneficial to the pupils than is the rest of the 
school. Not nearly so high an opinion can be main- 
tained of the German playground, directed by author- 
ity. The teacher, if possible, should participate in the 
games of the children, he should not direct them. 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 283 

Behavior Toward School Property. — The relation of 
the children toward school property is that of a trustee. 
They should be careful to leave it in as good order as 
they find it, and this is the ideal of conduct held con- 
stantly before the minds of the children. If the furni- 
ture is nicely finished, or new and elegant in appear- 
ance, it is much more likely to be preserved in an un- 
injured condition than if it is rough and unfinished. 
The child unconsciously imitates in his attitude toward 
school furnishing the ideal which it expresses. Hence 
the better the equipment, the greater effect it will have 
in developing in the mind of the child that attitude 
which makes the integrity of the school property secure. 
Rough, unfinished furniture and school appointments 
express a low ideal of the community, and this ideal 
is reflected in the manner in which the property is 
cared for by the pupils. 

Infractions of Discipline Toward School Property. — ■ 
Infractions of discipline are very likely to occur. Children 
will break window glass and scratch desks and make 
pencil marks on the wall. When the offender can be 
determined, that offender, for his own sake, must 
repair the injury that he has done. But if he cannot 
be determined, then it is necessary that the teacher 
shall cause the injury to be repaired, and the sooner 
the repair is made the better. One defacement imme- 
diately suggests another, hence the sooner it is removed 
the less likelihood of evil imitation. 

How Deal With Infractions. — By a judicious method 



284 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

of procedure, the injury that is done to school prop- 
erty may be made the means of inculcating the proper 
attitude toward property, and isolating* the offender. 
If a committee is enlisted who shall take care to efface 
all marks that have been wrongfully put upon school 
property, in cases where the offender cannot be de- 
termined, a strong force will exist among the pupils 
themselves in favor of maintaining the integrity of 
the property. By proper care, a stronger sentiment 
may be cultivated in preserving the property than if 
no infractions had ever occurred. But the offender, 
whenever he can be discovered, must be required to 
repair all injury done. 

Proper Behavior Toward the School. — The attitude 
of the pupil toward the school as a whole needs to be 
considered. In school, the pupil should be studious, 
quiet, self-contained. The school must be a unit in 
the fact that each pupil is trying to learn his own les- 
son at the same time that he is making favorable con- 
ditions for other pupils to learn their lessons. 

Infractions of Discipline Toward the School. — Infrac- 
tions of discipline are very likely to occur in respect to 
this relation. School conditions are quite far removed 
from the ancestral experiences of the race, and the 
nervous system of the child has to be adjusted to them 
with little assistance from heredity. The unity may 
be destroyed by whispering, throwing paper wads, 
writing notes, doing a thousand different things that 
disturb the atmosphere of study. 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 285 

Destruction of Unity. — The pupil who throws a paper 
wad destroys the unity that ought to be maintained. 
He sets himself apart from the rest of the school by his 
own act, and it is the business of the teacher to see 
that the rest of the pupils take note of this isolation. 

Isolation of the Offender. — This principle of the 
isolation of the offender is the most important principle 
in school government. When a paper wad goes across 
the room, it is highly injudicious for the teacher to 
propound the general inquiry "Who threw that paper 
wad?" The effect of such an inquiry is not only fail- 
ure to isolate the offender, but it furnishes him with 
many associates. Every child in the room feels that he 
is in position to be suspected, and is at once thrown 
on the defensive. He becomes an associate with the 
offender in the broken unity of the school. The unity 
is broken, although by the injudicious inquiry of the 
teacher the line of fracture runs, not between the of- 
fender and the rest of the school, including the teacher, 
but between the teacher and the rest of the school, in- 
cluding the offender. It is* the teacher who becomes 
isolated, and not the offender. If the teacher does not 
know who threw the wad, it is better to say nothing 
about it. Another wad may come soon and the of- 
fender be detected. If it does not come, and the of- 
fense is not repeated, there is no reason why any- 
thing should be said about it. 

Dealing With the Individual. — It is this dealing with 
the individual that is the keynote to all processes of 



286 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

good discipline. It is very rarely that an attempt 
should be made to include a whole room or a whole 
school in a sweeping condemnation. There is no util- 
ity in issuing general commands for order or disci- 
pline or quiet. It is not the severity of punishment, 
but the process of isolation, by which the force of 
public opinion is rendered effective, which will prove 
the most efficient means of preventing disorder. It is 
not even necessary that extraordinary precision shall 
be attained in selecting the individual most seriously 
involved in infractions of discipline. 

Proper Behavor Toward the Teacher. — Toward the 
teacher, the pupil should be respectful, obedient, cour- 
teous and considerate. Infractions of discipline in this 
respect may occur. The pupil may be disobedient and 
disrespectful. The proper attitude for the teacher to 
maintain in such a situation is one that leads him to 
act in such a manner that the pupil will feel that the 
teacher is actuated by good motives toward him. The 
teacher must be such a person that the pupil will ad- 
mire him, and one who will furnish good models for 
imitation. Unless the teacher is truthful, honest, 
prompt in all his actions, the pupils will be found lack- 
ing in the proper kind of respect for him to make dis- 
cipline easy. Threatening, or ungentlemanly conduct 
will inevitably result in weakening the respect of the 
pupil for the teacher, and disrespectful conduct, con- 
stituting an infraction of discipline, is certain to occur. 
Toward offenses of tin's nature, an impersonal altitude 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 287 

is always the most effective, and is really the one to 
which the teacher is limited. 

Proper Behavior Tozvard Other Pupils. — Towards the 
other pupils in the school, the pupil should be polite, 
unobtrusive, helpful. Infractions of discipline in this 
respect may come from a disposition on the part of 
some pupils to be idle, and to draw others into their 
idleness. The principal difficulty with such infrac- 
tions of discipline is that the injured party is likely to 
consent to the injury, and to league himself with the 
offender. Isolation of the offender is here the only re- 
source, together with an insistent demand that the 
pupil shall learn his lessons and shall recite well. Ad- 
ditional lessons, extra work, imposed as a task may 
sometimes be justified as a consequence of this kind of 
infradtions of discipline, although the very conditons 
that lead to infractions of discipline for which this 
method of procedure is a consequential punishment are 
likely to be such as to nullify its value. It is likely to 
be employed with profit in a very few cases only. 
Such cases are those in which the infraction of disci- 
pline comes as a result of too little work assigned, or 
ability of the pupil to do more work than the average 
of the class for whom the lesson has been planned. 

Proper Behavior Tozvard Lessons. — In his relation 
toward the studies of the school and the lessons as- 
signed, the pupil should be ready to study his lessons 
well, to recite promptly, and to do the exercises as- 
signed to him. Infractions of discipline in this re- 



288 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

spect are likely to be more frequent than in any other. 
In fact, success in avoiding such infractions practically 
means success in avoiding all others, and success in 
maintaining discipline with reference to these matters 
implies facility in maintaining discipline in every other 
respect. This attitude of the pupil toward the studies 
of the daily program is not often called discipline, and 
yet it is the most essential element in maintaining 
discipline in every other respect. 

How Secure Proper Study. — If the pupil does not 
learn his lessons well, it is necessary for the teacher to 
hold him to account more strictly than usual. The as- 
signment may be more than usually definite and more 
carefully made. The lesson should partake more of the 
nature of the test, and sometimes it may be be of a more 
formal character, perhaps even the committing of 
some portions of the text to memory. Good teaching 
is here imperative. A pupil or a class who learn their 
lessons well are not likely to be very difficult to man- 
age in any other respect. 

Synopsis. 

1. The most important condition for the mainten- 
ance of discipline is a knowledge on the part, of the 
teacher how troublesome pupils feel and think. An un- 
derstanding of the mental attitude of pupils leads to 
good discipline. 

2. The kind of behavior which is desired should be 
very definitely in the mind of the teacher. Such an 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 289 

idea will necessarily find expression in all the actions 
of the teacher, which will suggest it to the children, 
and such idea will constitute the motive leading to the 
proper behavior. 

3. The first principle of discipline is to deal with 
the individual offender, to maintain the unity of the 
school ; and when the unity is broken by the action 
of a pupil, to recognize that the line of fracture runs 
between the offender and the rest of the school. 

4. Good teaching is necessary in securing good 
discipline. 



CHAPTER XVII 
Motives in School 

Three Kinds of Motives. — We may discover three 
different conditions that determine the actions of children, 
and perhaps these three may not be an exhaustive list. 
They enter into the actions of children in varying pro- 
portions, and it is difficult to determine just how much 
any one action is attributable to each. These three condi- 
tions are first, the nature of the child at any particular 
time, including- in this his entire heredity, together with 
the stage of development which he has reached; second, 
the ethical atmosphere in which he is placed; third, his 
interest at the time indicated. 

The Nature of the Child. — We have seen in Chapter 
VII that the child passes through various stages which 
correspond to states in the development of the race. 
At one time the child is in a stage corre- 
sponding to the savage state of the race, and at 
another time he is in the stage corresponding to the state 
of primitive barbarism, and his actions are such as belong 
to that condition of development. Every one recognizes 
that the child of four years of age behaves differently 
from the child of six, and that the actions of a child of 
six vary widely from those of one of ten. Each age 

290 



MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 291 

has a course of behavior which is appropriate to it, and 
any variation from that method of acting must be con- 
sidered abnormal. 

How Account for Stealing. — Some children will steal. 
They will appropriate the property of another and apply 
it to their own uses. We call such actions stealing, and 
say that a person who behaves in this manner is a thief. 
But it will be said at once that such a term is too harsh 
to apply to a child of four or six years, although it may 
be applied with justice to the similar actions of a child 
of ten or fifteen years. This is a recognition of the 
fact that such acts of appropriation are to be expected 
in a child of four or six, but not in a child of greater age. 
The action is the same, but in a child of four we expect 
it, while in a child of ten or fifteen we do not. We 
recognize that the child of four is still in the stage of 
development to which stealing is appropriate, and has 
not yet reached the stage in which a regard for the rights 
of property and the recognition of it as an institution has 
become established. 

Age When Stealing Ought to Cease. — It is difficult 
to determine in years, just the time at which a child 
should have passed through this stage and become so 
that he will not steal, but usually he should have passed 
it by the time he has reached the age of eight years, or 
even seven. Wnen children have not outgrown this pro- 
pensity at eight years of age, we may regard them as ex- 
amples of retarded development. They have not devel- 
oped according to the course manifested by the greater 



292 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

number of children. Nearly all cases of criminal actions 
that occur in school are most satisfactorily explained by 
assuming that they are examples of retarded development. 
In fact, the only satisfactory way of looking at crime 
is to regard it as the result of arrested development, or, 
in some cases of crime among adults, of degeneration. 

Stealing an Indication of Retarded Development. — It 
is not at all unusual to find in a school, such examples 
of retarded development. Perhaps among children of 
high school age, it is not too much to expect that one or 
two pupils in a class of fifty will manifest this form of 
* retarded development. In fifty children of a younger age, 
the number will, in all probability, be greater. Children 
will steal pencils, copy-books, text-books, playthings, some 
articles of clothing, or even money. Nearly all children 
grow out of this condition and become honest and trust- 
worthy members of society ; but some remain permanently 
in an undeveloped state, and then they become known as 
thieves, or kleptomaniacs. 

Lying an Indication of Retarded Development. — What 
has been said about stealing, applies with little change to 
all forms of moral obliquity which we find in school. 
Lying is a vice indicative of an undeveloped condition. 
It is a manifestation of retarded development whenever 
we see it in children above a certain age. It is difficult 
to determine when a child is old enough to have ceased 
to lie and to have become able to tell the truth, because 
children' vary greatly in this respect. If children in the 
fourth sfrade lie, deliberate^ and willfully, we mav be 



MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 293 

safe in saying that their moral growth has become re- 
tarded, if not arrested. Sometimes little children lie 
because they are unable to distinguish an idea from a 
percept. The idea becomes as vivid as a percept, and 
they experience a real hallucination. Sometimes, how- 
ever, usually later than this period, the lies of childhood 
are adopted as a refuge of weakness. Courage, which is 
an altruistic feeling, has not been sufficiently developed 
to enable them to tell the truth, when it puts them into 
danger of an uncomfortable situation. As the child de- 
velops physically, mentally and socially, his moral nature 
develops also ; he ceases to lie and becomes able to tell 
the truth in all situations. Some people never pass this 
stage of development, but remain forever in a stage of 
which lying is a characteristic expression. 

Cheating an Indication of Retarded Development. — 
Cheating is another vice exhibited in the schoolroom. 
Some pupils cheat in examinations. They obtain infor- 
mation in ways not countenanced by the rules of the 
school, and which .are not in conformity with the prin- 
ciples of moral conduct. They will cheat in examinations, 
and in their daily recitations. They will read their Latin 
lessons with a pony, or solve their problems with a key 
or by other illegitimate means. All of these, and other 
forms of cheating are manifestations of this undeveloped 
moral character in various ways and in varying degrees. 

Other School Vices. — Lying, cheating and stealing 
are three school vices most sharply distinguished as such. 
Others occupy a less conspicuous position, although not 



294 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

less certainly indicative of the same undeveloped condi- 
tion. 

Destruction of property, gambling, swearing, cigarette 
smoking, tobacco chewing are sometimes found. All of 
these may be classed in the category of school vices, and 
all are more or less closely related to each other. They 
represent, however, different stages of development, and 
according to the stages which they represent, some are 
more tolerated in society outside of school than are 
others. 

Bad Behavior Noticeable Because Exceptional — We 
have already indicated these several school vices as ex- 
amples of behavior dependent upon the nature of the 
child at the particular time when the actions occur. 
The actions that constitute good behavior depend also 
upon the nature of the child, but the actions constituting 
bad behavior are the more noticeable because they are 
the exceptional and the unusual. We have selected these 
exceptional actions as illustrations of the general rule, 
rather than the usual actions, because they are the more 
conspicuous in consequence of being exceptional. 

Exceptional Actions Best to Illustrate the Opera- 
tion of a Single Factor. — There is another reason for 
selecting the exceptional actions as examples of those 
which are determined by the nature of the child. No 
action is determined absolutely by one factor, but every 
action is the resultant of several factors working to- 
gether. In case of the ordinary, non-exceptional action, 
we shall find all the factors entering into the motive in 



MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 295 

their ordinary proportion, and contributing to it in 
their usual degree. But the exceptional action is likely 
to be more completely determined by one factor than 
by another. Hence we can see in the exceptional action 
the influence of a single factor more clearly manifested 
than we can in the usual action. In case of these school 
vices, it is the factor of child nature that is most 
clearly manifested. These exceptional actions, which 
we call school vices, result from the nature of the 
child, rather than from the influence of the other factors 
determining behavior, which are usually opposed to 
them. 

The Ethical Atmosphere. — Another factor which de- 
termines the actions of the child at any time is the 
ethical atmosphere in which he lives. By ethical atmos- 
phere we shall mean the sum of all the suggestions that 
reach the child from the teacher, from his playmates, 
from his home influences, as well as from the force of 
habits which he has already formed. Every school and 
every school-room has its own standard of conduct ; 
and any action of any child which is in conformity with 
that standard is usual and expected, and excites no at- 
tention or comment. Any kind of action which does 
not conform to that standard is exceptional, unexpected, 
and does excite comment. This expectation and com- 
ment, this knowledge on the part of the child that lie is 
expected by the teacher and the pupils to act in a cer- 
tain way, and to conform to that standard of conduct, 
exercises a strong influence upon his actions. It is 



296 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

this expectation and knowledge of the standard that 
constitutes what we may call the ethical atmosphere in 
which the child lives. 

Force of Public Opinion. — The agency through which 
the influence of the ethical atmosphere is exercised 
is the force of public opinion. It is the strongest force 
in school government, and the teacher in order to govern 
a school successfully must cultivate it assiduously. In 
some schools this force of public opinion is organized 
into an institution and we have what is called pupil- 
government, or self-government. Where it is employed 
skillfully, this pupil-government may become very suc- 
cessful; but it is not a new element in school discipline, 
but merely a device for rendering public opinion ef- 
fective. 

Origin of the Ethical Atmosphere. — The ethical at- 
mosphere must originate in the first place with the 
teacher. The teacher holds clearly before his own 
mind an idea of a high standard of behavior and every 
action that he performs, every request that he makes, 
every regulation in school is a suggestion to the pupil 
of the standard of conduct. The pupils acquire the same 
idea of behavior and it works itself out in their actions. 
They adopt approximately the same standard and con- 
form more or less closely to it. When infractions of 
discipline occur, the offender has broken the unity be- 
tween himself and the rest of the school, and it is the 
business of the teacher to make this separation apparent. 
This is the principal function of punishment, which ful- 



MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 297 

fills its purpose best when it has rendered the offender 
unpleasantly conspicuous. 

The Function of Punishment. — Such has not always 
been considered the function of punishment. Punish- 
ment has been assumed to be the meting out of justice 
to an offender, although it would be, perhaps, more 
nearly true, though less euphemistic, to say that it was 
for the purpose of revenge. Mr. Keith thinks we may 
trace it farther back than this. He thinks that punish- 
ment was allied to the methods of treatment adopted 
in cases of demoniacal possession. In the savage state, 
a man who was sick or insane or a very great criminal 
was supposed to be suffering from the possession of a 
demon, which had taken up its habitation in the body 
of the man. The demon must be exorcised, or driven out, 
and this was usually done by making his habitation such 
an unpleasant place for him that he left the body of the 
patient and went elsewhere. So in order to expel the 
demon of mischief, or misbehavior, the pupil was 
whipped to cause him pain, and to expel the demon. It 
is needless to say that such a theory of punishment, no 
matter how satisfactory it might seem to be in particular 
cases, is not at all in harmony with our present knowledge 
of child nature. Punishment serves its purpose best 
when it makes the offender unpleasantly conspicuous, 
thus giving recognition to the fact that there is a break- 
ing of the unity between the offender and the rest of 
the school. 

Error in Application of the Principle.— -The teacher 



Jb>5 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

may fail to draw the line in the proper way. In order 
to draw the line of separation around the offender, the 
teacher must deal with the individual, and not with a 
group or with the school as a whole. If the teacher 
undertakes to include in his condemnation of an action, 
a whole room, or an entire class by general statement, 
or by direct charge, or even by an inquiry, as in the 
case supposed in the preceding chapter, he draws the 
line between himself and the rest of the school. He 
isolates himself, instead of isolating the offender. He 
associates others with the offender, which is the thing 
that the offender most desires. By dealing directly with 
the individual offender, the teacher avoids the common 
mistake of drawing the line of separation in the wrong 
place. There is no other principle of school govern- 
ment so important as this, and perhaps none that is 
so frequently violated. By dealing directly with the 
individual, the teacher is able to maintain the unity be- 
tween himself and the rest of the school, and to show 
that the offender has excluded himself from this unity. 

Getting Children on Our Side. — Teachers have a 
way of expressing this fact by saying that they wish to 
have the pupils on their side. This is a crude way of 
expressing an important truth. It means that they re- 
cognize a necessity for the maintenance of unity. It 
means that the line of separation is drawn so as to 
isolate the offender, and to recognize that the unity is 
broken between the offender and the rest of the school. 

Weakness of Departmental Instruction. — In oppor- 



MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 299 

tunities for dealing with the individual in such a way as 
to establish and maintain the unity between teacher and 
pupil, the one who teaches the same class all day in 
several subjects has an advantage over one who teaches 
many children in only one subject for a short time each 
day. A teacher must have an unusual strength of per- 
sonality to make a vivid impression upon a class of 
children with whom he comes into contact only one 
hour each day. It is this fact which constitutes the princi- 
pal weakness of the departmental method of instruc- 
tion. The departmental teacher is very likely to teach 
the subject rather than to teach the children. 

Effective Methods of Discipline. — We have now the 
principle to apply in cases of disorder or school crimes. 
In cases of stealing, the difficulty of detecting the of- 
fender is very great, and when he is detected, what can 
be done? It may be assumed that such a person should 
be expelled from school ; but when that is done, we de- 
prive the thief of the very best opportunity that he will 
ever have of growing past the undeveloped condition 
which permits him to steal. There is little danger that 
others will be affected by his presence, and from his ex- 
ample learn to steal. Their moral natures are not likely to 
suffer, since most of the children have already passed 
the point of development that permits them to steal, and 
degeneration is not likely to affect young children. There 
is little opportunity for dealing with the individual of- 
fender, but in cases where it may be done, harsh meas- 
ures are not likely to accomplish the result which we 



300 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

desire. The most effective device is to maintain the kind 
of ethical atmosphere favorable to the development of 
all the individuals, and this will affect the thief, even 
though we may not be able to discover him. This ethi- 
cal atmosphere results in such a force of public opinion 
that the pressure upon every child to behave in the 
proper manner is very strong, and results in the forma- 
tion of ethical habits and the development of moral 
character. 

How Deal With Lying and Cheating. — Nearly the 
same thing may be said of lying. The ethical atmos- 
phere here manifested by the expectation of the teacher 
and the majority of the children that every person is 
expected to tell the truth, and the suggestion arising 
from this expectation, working in and through the force 
of public opinion, is the best possible condition for the 
proper development of the child in the ways of truth. 
In cases of cheating and other allied vices, the same 
principle must apply. Shall we abandon examinations 
and recitations because some children may cheat in them? 
The conclusion would seem to be unwarranted. It is 
inadvisable to do things that will encourage cheating, 
and it is equally inadvisable to believe that no one will 
attempt to cheat. It is best that the teacher, so far as 
possible, shall not furnish an opportunity for the pupil 
who cheats to enjoy the fruits of cheating to the disad- 
vantage of those who do honest work. 

When Impossible to Discover the Offender. — Even 
though it be impossible to discover a pupil in the act of 



MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 301 

cheating, the general character which makes cheating 
natural to the child cannot be concealed, and the teacher 
may have a good general idea who it is that cheats, with- 
out positive evidence of the fact. About the only thing 
that the teacher can do is to prevent the reward of cheat- 
ing from being enjoyed; to cultivate such an ethical at- 
mosphere that children will grow into the habit of not 
cheating; to establish and cultivate a public opinion that 
will serve at once as an incentive to honesty and a deter- 
rent to cheating. 

Inadequacy of Instruction in Morality. — The principle 
here enunciated emphasizes the importance of the teach- 
er's example and the high standard of behavior that he 
holds in mind as the essential factor in determining the 
ethical atmosphere. Hence it is quite distinctly unfavor- 
able to the teaching of morality in school by formal les- 
sons of any kind. Such formal lessons are likely to be 
destructive to the establishing of the proper ethical at- 
mosphere rather than favorable to it. They substitute in- 
tellectual precepts for an ethical atmosphere as the deter- 
mining factor in behavior. 

Effect of Interest. — The third element in determining 
the behavior of children is interest. Children feel deeply 
and strongly, and the way that a child will feel at any 
time toward a particular situation is determined by several 
factors ; by his stage of development ; by the suggestions 
that he receives from other people, and which enter into 
the ethical atmosphere in which he lives ; by other cir- 
cumstances, such as habit, the result of his past exper- 



302 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

iences, and by anticipation of what is to come. In one 
sense of the word, interest is the dominant factor, and 
may be made broad enough to include the other two which 
have already been discussed. But since those other fac- 
tors determine what the interest shall be, it is necessary 
for us to consider the actions as determined in part by 
them. 

Interest May Be in Various Things. — Interest is the 
feeling arising from the recognition of a relation existing 
between the person and the thing to wmich he attends. 
The interest which results in proper behavior in school 
may arise from the recognition of any one or many of 
such a multitude of relations that it is impossible to enum- 
erate them. The interest may be in the learning of the 
lessons, in the personality of the teacher, in the welfare 
or reputation of the school as a whole; or it may be an 
interest in personal welfare associated with punishment 
or reward. 

Transfer of Interest. — We must recognize the fact 
that there is a possibility of a transformation of one kind 
of interest to another. The interest of curiosity may de- 
velop into the interest of personal welfare, and this may 
change into the interest of habit. The teacher is justified, 
then, in making use of one form of interest, even though 
of that kind which may be called artificial and totally ex- 
traneous, expecting to substitute for it a higher and more 
permanent interest as soon as it can be done. 

Proper Interest is in School Work, Not in Behavior. — 
The interest that leads to proper behavior in school is 



MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 303 

usually not an interest in behavior itself, but an interest 
in the regular work of the school. It is an interest in the 
studies and subjects of instruction and the regular school 
exercises, rather than an interest in behavior as such. 
This is the fact that more than any other emphasizes 
the importance of good teaching as a condition of dis- 
cipline. Discipline, considered as determined by interest, 
becomes not an end nor even a necessary condition of 
study, but an inevitable accompaniment of good teaching. 
Discipline and good teaching are therefore so inextrica- 
bly mingled that it is only in thought that we are able 
to separate them. When we consider a school well gov- 
erned without its being well taught, we are establishing 
a false standard of discipline and of good order. It is 
a standard which iconoclasts are justified in deriding. 
The only true discipline is that which comes as an ac- 
companiment of good teaching, and which is determined 
in very large part by interest. 

Deportment Marks. — In consequence of the principle 
here enunciated, it is with doubtful propriety that teach- 
ers record a mark for deportment in children's monthly 
reports which are furnished for the inspection of parents. 
This seems to make deportment a separate subject, like 
arithmetic, and to distinguish it as' something apart from 
the general atmosphere of the school. It furnishes an 
improper suggestion and makes behavior a thing in itself, 
attracting attention to it in a way rather unfavorable 
than otherwise to its best manifestation. 



304 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Synopsis 

1. The behavior of children is determined largely by 
three factors: The stage of development in which the 
child is, the ethical atmosphere in which he lives, and 
interest. 

2. Stealing, lying and cheating may be considered as 
typical school crimes. When we recognize actions by 
these names, we may regard them as examples of re- 
tarded development. 

3. The ethical atmosphere is the sum of all the sug- 
gestions that reach a pupil from the expectation of the 
teacher and the other children that he will act in a cer- 
tain way. The force of public opinion is the means by 
which the pupil is influenced to act as he is expected 
act. 

4. Interest is a term so broad that it may be made 
to include both of the other factors, and other things as 
well. It is possible to bring about a transformation of 
interests, so that when a habit of good behavior has been 
established in consequence of one interest, it may be 
continued in consequence of an interest of a higher order. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
School Incentives 

Use of Incentives Legitimate. — We may use the term 
School Incentives to designate those special devices by 
which a teacher determines the interests and actions of 
the children. Since the interest may be transferred from 
one kind to another, it is legitimate for the teacher to 
employ a device appealing to an interest of a low order as 
a means of attaining to an interest of a higher order, 
and reaching a higher standard of conduct. As good 
teaching is a fundamental condition for securing proper 
discipline, so devices that attract children to take a proper 
attitude toward the school studies are the most effective 
and of a higher order than those devices which appeal 
merely to the disciplinary side of school life. Our first 
endeavor, then, should be to employ such devices as will 
induce in the child the proper kind of study, and good 
habits of recitation. 

Habit as an Incentive. — The interest of habit is one 
of the most powerful interests that children have. It 
is essential that the teacher do whatever is possible to 
induce good habits of study. It is imperative, in seek- 
ing to establish good habits of study, that the teacher 
be careful in making the assignment of lessons. The 

305 



306 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

nature of the assignment and the recitation may be varied 
according to the degree of habit that has been formed in 
the learning of the lessons. If good habits of study have 
not been formed, the assignment will be very definite, the 
recitation will be mostly a testing lesson, and there will 
be no failure to call for every portion of it. The lesson 
will not be so long nor so difficult as to render it painful 
to learn, thereby arousing an unpleasant interest, and it 
will still be of sufficient difficulty to demand effort suffi- 
cient to awaken a pleasurable interest in its accomplish- 
ment. These are the general principles to apply when it 
is our purpose to induce good habits of study in a class 
where such habits do not at present exist. 

Program as an Incentive. — Habits are engendered by 
a regular succession of acts. Repetition and regularity 
are the elements that enter into their formation. Rigid 
adherence to a program is well understood to be one of 
the most effective devices for securing good habits of 
study. It is a conservative force that leads to good 
teaching and to good discipline. That it does limit the 
freedom of the teacher and of the pupil in some respects, 
and prevents the accomplishing of as much, under certain 
circumstances, as might be accomplished if deviation from 
it were permitted, is sometimes very true. Hence some 
teachers refuse to be bound by a program ; but when it 
is the intention to establish good habits of study, and to 
encourage the interest of habit, rigid adherence to a 
program is essential. A program in itself is a device for 
securing such habits. 



SCHOOL INCENTIVES 307 

Habit Opposed to Curiosity. — The interest of habit 
resulting from the employment of a program is opposed 
to the interest of curiosity or newness, which arises in 
the deviation from it. The interest of habit is a much 
safer interest and a higher form, as well as more effective 
in maintaining good behavior in school. 

Imitation as an Incentive. — The interest of imitation 
is a powerful interest which has already been discussed. 
The idea of the teacher is imitated, rather than the 
spoken word in which the teacher might state his rules 
of conduct. The teacher expresses by his own habits 
of order and neatness his real idea of discipline and of 
good behavior in school, and it is this rather than the 
verbal expression which is imitated. His actions furnish 
the suggestions which, unconsciously to the children, con- 
stitute the motive for a corresponding action in them. 

Intellectual Interest as Incentive. — A third element in 
interest is the intellectual feeling, by which is meant the 
desire on the part of children to know. Children really 
desire to learn, and to know things. It is a natural in- 
terest, and it is one to w T hich the teacher can appeal very 
successfully. We may see a manifestation of it in the 
eagerness with which children of a certain age work at 
puzzles, and by the questions that children of an earlier 
age ask. The little child is essentially an animated inter- 
rogation point, and if the subject that we wish the child 
to learn is presented to him in the right way, we shall find 
that he is eager to learn. Teachers usually regard this 
interest too lightly. They assume that study is distaste- 



308 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

ful, and that the subject must be made attractive to the 
child by extraneous means. The child accepts this sug- 
gestion, and becomes indisposed to learn. 

Teaching Little Children to Read. — It is believed by 
many people that the little child should not be put to 
learning to read and write as soon as he goes into school, 
but that he should be set to doing something else which 
will show him the necessity of learning to read and write. 
When he has discovered the necessity for learning to 
read and write, then there will be little trouble in in- 
ducing him to learn these subjects. It seems that the 
mistake in this philosophy lies in the assumption that 
reading and writing are in themselves disagreeable sub- 
jects, and that something else is agreeable. The fact is, 
that if the same suggestion is given to the child con- 
cerning reading and writing and numbers, that is given to 
him concerning construction work or nature study, the 
same disposition to learn reading and writing will be 
manifested that is exhibited toward the other subjects, 
which are believed to be in themselves more attractive. 
We make a mistake if we assume that school subjects are 
not full of interest to the children. Every lesson should be 
a problem, and should challenge the best efforts of the 
child. We may destroy all interest by making our lessons 
too easy, and we can destroy it by making them so diffi- 
cult that the experience in learning is a painful one. 

Artificial Incentives. — In our use of the word incen- 
tives, we are rather inclined, however, to limit it to the 
artificial, extraneous devices by which we induce an 



SCHOOL INCENTIVES 309 

interest, not in the study itself, nor in the regular exer- 
cises of the school, but in something else that may in- 
volve as a condition, compliance with all the school regu- 
lations. Our general principle is that such extraneous 
incentives are justifiable if they are necessary to the 
formation of good habits of study and conduct, and if 
the lower interest generated in them is afterward trans- 
ferred to the higher forms of interest ultimately involved 
in the school exercises themselves. Let us apply this 
principle to the discussion of some common forms of in- 
centives. 

Prizes as Incentives. — The giving of prizes is one 
of the most common incentives adopted to induce interest 
in school exercises. Some world famous prizes are ex- 
tensively advertised, and others that are not called prizes 
are equally good examples of such incentives. The Nobel 
prizes are awarded each year, and nearly every great 
scientific association offers prizes as rewards for success 
in competition. In colleges and universities, prizes, under 
the name of scholarships, are offered from year to year. 
The public schools of elementary grade have mostly 
passed beyond this stage of development that encourages 
the giving of prizes, and nothing has been lost, but rather 
a distinct gain has been made thereby. 

Evils of Prise Giving. — The objections to the giving 
of prizes in school are very strong. Prizes appeal to but 
few in a class. They appeal only to those who have a good 
chance of obtaining them, and these few are the best 
pupils, who need the incentive least. It accentuates the 



310 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING! 

difference between the good and the bad, while we desire 
to bring the bad up nearer to the good, thus diminishing 
instead of accentuating the difference. The winning of 
the prize depends upon success in competition, rather 
than upon success in accomplishment. The success may 
be obtained in an honorable or a dishonorable way. Mis- 
fortune to a competitor is as effective in winning the 
prize as is excellence in the one who wins it. It is closely 
allied to the disposition to get something for nothing 
which is the spirit of gambling, and is assimilated to the 
undeveloped stage that permits one to steal. Altogether, 
there is little that can be said in favor of the incentive 
of prizes in school. 

Other Rewards as Incentives. — The same objections 
apply with less force to rewards, or marks of distinction, 
that are given for successful work rather than for com- 
petitive superiority. Such rewards often take the form 
of diplomas, certificates, medals, degrees and promotions. 
It must be understood that these are artificial incentives 
and open to the objections that they center the interest 
upon the distinction, rather than upon the end that is the 
real purpose of study. When, however, the rewards, or 
marks of distinction are not emphasized, but the interest 
aroused by them is transferred to the study which is the 
real purpose of school work, there is no serious objection 
to them. 

The Marking System. — A system of markings, either 
in percentages or in some thinly disguised form of per 
cents,, is often employed as an incentive to work in school. 



SCHOOL INCENTIVES 311 

The children are graded in per cents, and the standing 
of the pupil enters as an element into the ethical atmos- 
phere in which the child lives. Sometimes, if a child has 
a certain per cent standing in his classes he is allowed 
special privileges ; or if he lacks a certain per cent stand- 
ing he is denied participation in special school opportuni- 
ties. Occasionally a regulation is made that pupils with 
a certain high per cent standing in daily work will not 
be required to take a final examination in their subject, 
while it is almost universal in colleges and high schools, 
that pupils who have failed to maintain a certain per 
cent standing in their work are deprived of the privilege 
of playing upon the football and baseball teams of their 
schools until they have brought their work up to the 
required mark. 

Unconsidered Indignation. — Many years ago a great 
wave of indignation swept over the country concerning 
the marking system, and the same feeling persists to such 
an extent that we feel even now when we mention a 
marking system, we must apologize for its introduction 
into educational discussions. However, it is of so much 
practical importance that it is well for us to consider the 
matter carefully. 

Objections to the Marking System. — The objections 
to the use of per cent markings as an incentive to study 
are numerous and weighty. In the first place, the objec- 
tion is ofTered that children are thus taught to compare 
themselves with each other and to take pride in com- 
petitive superiority. This is the same objection that is 



312 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

made to the giving of prizes as an incentive, and has 
equal validity. It is not inherent in the marking system, 
however, as it is in the prize system. The teacher may 
report the mark of the pupil only to the pupil himself, 
then it is not possible for him to make invidious com- 
parisons. Another objection is that the marks cannot 
tell the truth. When one child is marked 75.1 and an- 
other is marked 74.9 it is impossible to affirm that one 
child is ' superior to another. We cannot be sure that 
there is an actual difference in the ability or success of the 
two children, yet one may be promoted upon this mark- 
ing, and the other may be cast into outer darkness. This 
is very likely true, but if there is any attempt to employ 
promotion as an incentive, there is a necessity for some 
method of drawing the line between those who shall be 
promoted and those who shall not. Any method that 
shall be devised for this purpose will probably be open 
to the same objection in greater degree. 

Promotion Determined by Marks. — Promotion is often 
used as an incentive in school work. This is not its pri- 
mary purpose, and to use it so is rather a perversion 
of its real function. The real purpose of promotion is to 
adjust the individual pupil in such classes as will enable 
him to study with the prospect of greatest improvement. 
Promotion is intended to advance the pupil to such a 
class that his ability and stage of development will be as 
nearly as possible equal to that of other members of the 
class. Children do not all develop with equal rapidity. 
If they did, there would be no necessity for making 



SCHOOL INCENTIVES 313 

discriminations between pupils in promotions, but all 
members of a class could take up different subjects at 
the same time. The good of the child is the only thing 
that should determine his promotion, and that good can 
be decided satisfactorily only by the person who knows 
the pupil's ability best, namely, the teacher. Often it may 
happen that a pupil enters upon the adolescent stage and 
should be promoted to a higher class, when his class 
work is not so good as that of other pupils who have 
not developed physically so rapidly, but whose per cent 
standing is higher. 

Facility* of Determining Promotion by Marks. — It is 
difficult, however, to bring children and parents to realize 
all of these situations, while the per cent scale is easily 
comprehended. Therefore, notwithstanding the inad- 
equacy of promotions based exclusively upon percentage, 
it is usually found to be more satisfactory to adopt that 
basis as a determining factor in making promotions. 
When such a plan of promotions is adopted, it is very 
easy and very effective to employ promotion based upon 
percentages as an incentive to study. 

Advantages of a Marking System. — This, then, is one 
of the purposes and one of the advantages of markings. 
Not only are they employed, sometimes, as an incentive 
to study, but they are employed by the teacher as a 
means of making up his judgment upon the success of 
the pupil's work. Teachers are called upon to decide 
whether a child shall be promoted or not. They must 
sometimes decide whether a child shall go into another 



314 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

class or grade, or remain in the one in which he now is. 
Pass or not pass, is the decision to be made. In order 
to avoid injustice, a careful record of the pupil's work 
in the shortest possible way is needed. The record is not 
necessarily open to the inspection of the pupil, but may 
be exclusively for the benefit of the teacher in making 
decisions that shall not be unjust. 

Marks Assist in Making Correct Judgment. — A 
teacher is called upon constantly to make judgments upon 
the success of a pupil's work. A parent would have just 
cause for indignation if the teacher were sincere in the 
statement that he does not know how successful the 
child is in his school work. If the teacher really does 
not know, he is unworthy of his place. The mark is 
merely a shorthand way of expressing the teacher's 
judgment of the child's work. The average of several 
marks is likely to be more nearly correct than is any 
single judgment. An error in one is corrected by an 
error in the opposite direction in another. A teacher 
may feel that he knows what a child can do, but an 
average of ten or twenty marks does not agree with 
his single judgment. His record is more likely to be 
correct every time. In case of a good student, a single 
failure in recitation will stand out more strongly because 
it is an unusual circumstance, and it will diminish the 
opinion of the teacher toward that pupil more than a 
dozen good recitations will raise it. On the other hand, 
a poor student who makes a brilliant recitation one day 
will receive more credit in the general estimation of the 



SCHOOL INCENTIVES 315 

teacher than he will deserve. The average of marks 
will show forth a much more nearly accurate estimate 
of the pupil's success in his studies than will a single 
general judgment. 

Marks an Unworthy Motive to S tudy.— Another ob- 
jection to the use of marks as an incentive is that it 
establishes a wrong motive for study. Instead of study- 
ing for the good that is to be derived from the study 
itself, the children work for marks alone. Instead of in- 
culcating an interest in learning, it inculcates an interest 
in getting marks. Children work for marks rather than 
for the good that they are to derive from their school 
work. 

Answer to the Objection. — This is a valid objection, 
and can be removed only by an application of the princi- 
ple that interest aroused by one device may be trans- 
formed into a better and higher form. It must be recog- 
nized also, that the value to the child comes not from the 
aim that the child himself holds in view, but from the effect 
that is produced upon the child by his own activity, how- 
ever that activity may be induced. The apparent aim in 
school work, which is recognized by the child, is seldom 
the real purpose recognized by the teacher or the educa- 
tional philosopher. This consideration takes away a large 
part of the force of the objection. A mark is merely a 
shorthand expression of the judgment of the teacher, 
upon a single recitation. It is, perhaps, a short way of 
saying privately "I commend you," or "That is good." 
No one believes that the approval of the teacher is an 



310 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

unworthy motive to work for, and the mark is merely a 
way of expressing that approval. Neither is there any ob- 
jection to the comparison by the pupil of his own work 
one month with his own work of the month before. This 
kind of rivalry of the pupil with himself and his desire 
to do better than he did before is one of the most worthy 
motives. The recorded judgments of the teacher en- 
able him to make this kind of comparison, and they need 
no apology. 

The Really. Valid Objections to Marks. — The greatest 
objection to the marking system in all its variations is 
that it takes too much time and effort on the part of the 
teacher. Especially when the teacher attempts to make 
a record of recitations in the time of the class period, 
it is likely to distract his attention from the real busi- 
ness of teaching, to disrupt the unity of thought, and 
to diminish very much the effectiveness of teaching 
power. The school in which the requirements for gradu- 
ation are the most rigid, adhere most strongly to a mark- 
ing system. The advantages are great, although there 
is danger of injustice. It is not to be commended highly 
as a means of inducing study, but has its chief value in 
determining promotion. 

Emulation as an Incentive. — Emulation is the basis of 

many devices for inducing study, or proper behavior in 
school. In some schools, this takes the form of head- 
marks, or ranking in class. When so used, it has all the 
objectionable features of prizes. When, however, emula- 
tion is made the basis of team-play, in which one school 



SCHOOL INCENTIVES 317 

is pitted against another, or one room against another 
room, or one portion of the room against another portion, 
it is in large part relieved from this objection. Team-play 
is one of the most efficient means of socialization, and 
competitive team-play is in accordance with the natural 
tendencies and stages of development of children above 
the age of twelve or fourteen. Emulation is frequently 
made the basis of team-play in spelling, in arithmetic 
or in geography. The same principle is sometimes em- 
ployed in maintaining school order. Tardiness yields 
more readily to this treatment than to any other. The 
room in school which shows the smallest number of 
cases of tardiness is furnished with some mark of dis- 
tinction which is retained until some other room shows 
fewer cases of tardiness, when it is passed over to that 
other room. Tardiness almost disappears under the stress 
of such incentive, although it is questionable if in such 
cases, punctuality is not sometimes obtained at too great 
cost. It is a question whether devices based upon such 
a principle may not become too effective. 

Pupil Government. — Only a slight variation of this 
device leads to pupil-government in school. Children 
may be brought to have such regard for the discipline 
of their room that government may safely be left to 
the children themselves. The force of public opinion 
is strong enough in such cases to act as a restraint upon 
disorder, and it may act very effectively. It seems of 
doubtful propriety, however, for the teacher to abandon 
all authority, even in the best of circumstances. In fact 



318 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

all authority is never abandoned, but the impulse leading 
to the establishment of the ethical ideal originates with 
the teacher, and is constantly maintained by him. The 
teacher's authority may never be openly exercised, but 
he is and must be ready to take control at any time that 
the government seems to be in danger. 

General Exercises and Special Days. — In this connec- 
tion we must not neglect the consideration of general 
exercises, such as singing, and lessons of such a nature 
that the entire school may participate in them. Such are 
the celebration of Washington's birthday, Thanksgiving, 
and other anniversary days and special occasions. In 
some schools this is made a regular institution. Such 
exercises have the advantage of causing the school to 
work together as a unit and contributes to the develop- 
ment of the community ideal. It has the serious disad- 
vantage of breaking up the formation of habit, and 
relying upon another interest, usually of less value than 
that of habit, which it displaces. It proceeds to adopt a 
different line of study from that which has been laid 
down as the best for all pupils when the entire situation 
is considered. In schools where it is made an incident, 
and not permitted to break up and destroy the regular 
work of the school, much good may come from it. 
Whether the practice is good, 1 or bad is likely to depend 
upon attendant circumstances and the entire situation 
in the school. It cannot be sweepingly commended nor 
unsparingly condemned. 

Artificial Incentives to be Minimized. — All the incen- 



SCHOOL INCENTIVES 3 19 

tives so far discussed are devices, whose value depends 
upon the application of the principle of the transforma- 
tion of interests. If the teacher is of such vigorous per- 
sonality that extraneous devices are not necessary, it is 
better to minimize their application. The teacher whose 
pupils maintain good order and who work steadily with- 
out being conscious of any of the machinery by which 
the teacher induces in them this condition of study will 
in all probability accomplish more than the teacher whose 
pupils are consciously stimulated by devices for such pur- 
pose. Especially is this the case when the principle of 
transfer of interest is neglected and the children are 
actuated consciously and avowedly by the incidence of 
the device itself. 

Incentive May be too Effective. — One other objec- 
tion is frequently urged to every one of such devices 
as it is particularly and successfully applied. Each one 
is charged with inducing too intense application of cer- 
tain children to study, to the detriment of their physical 
health and their nervous condition. Each device is be- 
lieved to be, sometimes, too successful. This is a gen- 
eral condition and not a criticism upon the employment 
of devices in themselves. That the amount of pressure 
necessary to induce proper study in one group of children 
will produce an injurious intensity of study in another 
group is sometimes true. But it is rather decidedly 
easier to modulate the too intense activity of the studious 
and orderly, than it is to induce a proper degree of 
activity in those who are indisposed to study at all, or to 



320 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

conform to school regulations. The criticism that in- 
centives succeed too well in what they are designed to 
accomplish does not argue that they are to be abandoned, 
but that the child should always be considered in making 
an application of the device. 

Synopsis 

1. The principle of transformation of interests per-, 
mits the employment of incentives of a low order, ex- 
pecting them ultimately to be supplanted by those of a 
higher order. 

2. Habit, imitation, and intellectual feeling are in- 
terests of a high order which may be appealed to without 
hesitation by the teacher. 

3. Some incentives of lower order which may be 
employed to induce the interest of habit are prizes, marks 
of distinction, such as diplomas, class rankings, per cent 
markings, promotion and emulation. Each of these is 
open to criticism, and they vary much in the degree 
with which they may be commended or condemned. 



CHAPTER XIX 
The Formation of the General Abstract Notion 

Importance of an Understanding of the General Ad* 
stract Notion. — No discussion of the principles of teach- 
ing can be satisfactory that does not include a study of 
the general abstract notion. An inadequate knowledge 
of it is the cause of very much poor teaching, and the 
occasion of nearly all the ludicrous mistakes in examina- 
tion papers. A teacher who fails to know the process 
by which the general abstract notion is formed is not in 
a situation to direct the studies of children to the most 
successful issue. 

Composition of a Notion, or Concept. — By general 
abstract notion we understand the meaning, or content, 
of a common noun. The word concept is used to express 
the same thing that is indicated here by the term general 
abstract notion ; but the latter term seems to be more 
suitable for our purpose. We may distinguish a general 
abstract notion, expressed by a common noun, from a 
singular concrete notion, expressed by a proper noun. 
The singular concrete notion arises as the result of a 
combination of sensations experienced at the same time. 
A sensation is the simplest intellectual process which 
we can distinguish, and it is the psychological accom- 
paniment of a nervous impulse started in a sense organ 
and carried to its brain center. 

321 



322 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Composition of a Percept. — A sensation makes us ac- 
quainted with the quality of an object. From an object 
we may obtain several sensations, corresponding to sev- 
eral qualities. These sensations accompany peripherally 
initiated impulses ; but as soon as the peripherally initia- 
ted impulses have been established, and the correspond- 
ing sensations experienced , then, in nearly all cases, 
centrally initiated impulses accompanying other sensa- 
tions, which we may designate as faint, combine with 
them. All the sensations that are experienced at the same 
time, both faint and vivid, combine, modify each other, 
and the result is a percept, or singular concrete notion. 
There may be ten sensations of different degrees of in- 
tensity accompanying centrally initiated impulses, while 
there may be only four sensations accompanying peri- 
pherally initiated impulses. This is the truth involved in 
the statement that we see more with the mind than we 
do with the eye. 

What is a Proper Noun? — If the singular concrete 
notion is properly expressed, its expression is a proper 
noun. It is the notion of some particular object, or a 
single individual thing. Very few objects that we have 
occasion to indicate have individual names, so we dis- 
tinguish which one of a number of objects we mean by 
the employment of a number of limiting words attached 
to a common noun. 

The process by which a general abstract notion is 
formed may be illustrated from every branch of study, 
but we can exhibit the process very satisfactorily by show- 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 323 

ing- how the general abstract notion of an insect is ob- 
tained. 

The Process of Abstraction. — Let us suppose that we 
are studying a grasshopper, and we begin with the study 
of an individual. The first thing that we do is to see the 
grasshopper as a whole. This, however, is not sufficient 
to give us a satisfactory knowledge of the animal. We 
observe that it is made up of parts. There are three 
body divisions, the head, thorax and abdomen. Leaving 
out of consideration for the time being all other parts 
of the body, we fix our attention upon the head. We ob- 
serve that the head itself is composed of different parts, 
and we may distinguish the eyes, excluding from consid- 
eration, for the time, all other parts of the head. We see 
that the eye itself is composed of parts, six-sided facets, 
of which there are several thousand in each eye. Each 
facet corresponds to a single eye, and if every facet ex- 
cept one were covered up, the grasshopper could still see 
with that one facet. In consequence of the convexity of 
the eye, some of the facets are directed upward, some 
downward, some sideways, some backward, some for- 
ward. Thus the grasshopper is enabled to see in all di- 
rections at once without moving his head or changing 
the position of his eyes. It really seems as if he had 
been designed by providence to be a school teacher. 

Counting, a Process of 'Abstraction. — Then we look 
at the antennae, excluding from consideration for the 
time being all other organs, We count the segments 
of the antennae, not merely to find out how many seg- 



324 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

ments there are, although this information will naturally 
be obtained, but in order that we shall fix our attention 
for an instant of time upon each single segment, to the 
exclusion of every other segment, and of every part of 
the head. 

Importance of Abstraction. — When I am fixing my 
attention upon one thing to the exclusion of everything 
else, I am engaged In the process of abstraction. It is a 
very important process, and rather a difficult one. That 
it is an important process is rendered evident by the 
number of abstract words and common nouns that we 
employ. 

The definition of an abstract noun given in our gram- 
mars, that it is the name of a property or a quality consid- 
ered separate and apart from the object to which it be- 
longs, is accurate, but usually means little to the chil- 
dren who are called upon to learn it. It is just as truly 
a process of abstraction to examine the leg of a grass- 
hopper to the exclusion of the other parts of the animal, 
as it is to abstract truth, weight, redness, or any other 
property of an idea. 

The Process of Analysis. — The second process that 
is employed in the study of an object, and which is neces- 
sary to an understanding of the process by which a 
general abstract notion is formed, is the process of analy- 
sis which goes along concurrently with the process of ab- 
straction, and indeed can scarcely be separated from it. 
Analysis differs from abstraction in the fact that by analy- 
sis we examine the relations that one part holds to the 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 325 

other parts. It accompanies the process of abstraction, 
but can be separated from it in thought. 

Analysis in Grammar and Arithmetic. — We hear much 
of analysis in grammar and in arithmetic, and the process 
is the same wherever we find it. The analysis of a prob- 
lem in arithmetic consists in the perception of the rela- 
tions that one quantity in the problem holds to the other 
quantities. A problem is difficult or easy according as 
the relations are apparent or obscure. So every problem 
in arithmetic is solved by analysis, and this is the fact 
which attests the wisdom of discarding rules in the so- 
lution of problems. In the analysis of sentences in gram- 
mar we need to see the relation that one word or element 
of a sentence holds to the other words, or elements. 

Abstraction and Analysis Involved in the Studying of 
a Thing. — This process of analysis and abstraction is a 
necessary step in the development of the general abstract 
notion, but it is all included in the study of the individual 
thing. It is as necessary to the formation of the particu- 
lar concrete notion, as it is to the general abstract notion, 
and is involved in any process of perception. 

We Study a New Thing by Means of the Old.— After 
we have obtained as thorough a knowledge of a single 
insect as we can get, we proceed to study in the same way 
other related insects. It will require not nearly so long 
a time to study a cricket as it did to study the grass- 
hopper. We can see just as many things and see them 
just as well in one-fourth of the time that we spent in 
studying the grasshopper. This is not because our pow- 



326 



PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 



crs of observation have been cultivated, but because we 
have obtained a body of knowledge which is related to 
that which we obtain from the cricket, and by means of 
which we apprehend and interpret its structure and life. 
It is by means of this related knowledge that we are able 
to see so much more with the mind than we are with 
the eye. 

The Process of Discrimination. — Let us suppose that 
we have studied in this way a bumblebee, butterfly, 
squashbug, housefly and dragonfly. It is not a matter of 
indifference that they be studied in a certain order, be- 
cause certain relations manifest themselves readily if 
they are studied in a certain order, which do not appear 
if they are presented in a different one. When we have 
studied individuals of these kinds, we are ready for the 
next step. We need to notice the differences which have 
manifested themselves to us while studying the different 
insects. We can tabulate the differences in some such 
form as the following : 

Table 1 
Differences Among Insects. 





Grasshopper 


Butterfly 


Bumblebee 


Squash bug 


Wings 


Straight 


Scaly- 


Membrane 


Half 


Metamorphosis 


Direct 


Indirect 


Indirect 


Direct 


Mouth parts . . 


Biting 


Sucking 


Biting and 
Lapping 


Sucking 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 





Dragonfly 


Beetle 


Housefly 


Wings 


Nerved 


Sheath 


Two 


Metamorphosis -.'... Indirect 


Indirect 


Indirect 


Mouth parts 


Biting 


Biting 


Sucking and 






Piercing 



Importance of Discrimination. — The process by which 
we observe differences is called discrimination. It is an 
important process in thinking. Every great discovery 
has arisen from the recognition of finer and finer dis- 
tinctions. A good example is found in Lord Rayleiglrs 
discovery of argon. Lord Rayleigh weighed nitrogen that 
was derived from the air, and then nitrogen that had 
been obtained from chemical compounds. He found a 
small but constant difference between the two weights. 
Other men had observed the same difference, but to 
them it was non-significant. They attributed the differ- 
ences to inaccuracies in weighing, or to other ordinary 
conditions. But in 1893 Lord Rayleigh studied this dif- 
ference, and arrived at the discovery of argon, an ele- 
ment previously unknown, and which constitutes nearly 
one per cent of the air. This led to the discovery of 
other substances in the air, neon, krypton, helium and 
xenon. These discoveries have added a new r column to 
the table of elements, and it seems possible, at least, that 
ether itself will find a place in this column, and so furnish 
a totally different explanation of the universe from that 
which has previously prevailed. Such are the great re- 



328 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

suits that follow from making a finer discrimination than 
has been previously made, and such is the process by 
which improvements are always obtained. 

Ability to Discriminate Is a Function of Growth. — 
The growth of a child's knowledge pursues the same 
course. The discriminations that a young child makes 
are not very fine, and it is worse than useless to attempt 
to have him draw delicate distinctions that are after- 
ward made easily. Sometimes, on the plea of thorough- 
ness, we undertake to induce young children to make 
distinctions that are appropriate and possible only to 
children of a more mature age. The growth of a child's 
knowledge and power to think is parallel to, and deter- 
mined by, his ability to make finer and finer discrimina- 
tions. 

Discrimination Necessary to a Critic. — The person 
who discriminates well is a good critic. This is a quality 
especially valuable to a teacher. It is frequently asserted 
that a good critic is not a creator nor a constructive 
thinker and it is generally true that the two qualities of 
mind exist in different degrees in the same person; but 
the function of the critic is perhaps as important as is 
the function of any other thinker. 

The Process of Comparison. — We must now examine 
another process. While we have been studying these dif- 
ferent animals and observing how they differ from each 
other, we have also been observing how they resemble 
each other. We see that each has three body divisions, 
segmented abdomen, seventeen body-segments, six legs, 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 



329 



jointed appendages, two pairs of wings, and all breathe 
by spiracles. We might observe many other resemblances, 
which, just at this stage of our study, do not appeal to 
us. Thus we might observe that all are composed of 
cells, have white blood, are bilaterally symmetrical, take 
solid food, exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen, sexes 
are separate, and many other things. We may express 
these resemblances in the following table : 

Table II. 
Resemblances Among Insects 





Three body divisions. 




Seventeen body segments. 




Segmented abdomen. 




Three pairs of legs. 


Grasshopper 


Jointed appendages. 


Butterfly 


One pair of antennae. 


Bumblebee 


Compound eyes. 


Squash bug < 


Jaws move sideways. 


Dragonfly- 


Two pairs of wings. 


Beetle 


Breathe by spiracles. 


Housefly 


External chitinous skeleton. 




Double nerve cord and ganglia 




White blood. 




Reproduce by eggs. 




( Bilaterally symmetrical. 



A General Abstract Notion the Sum of Resemblances. 
■ — All animals that we have studied manifest these char- 
acteristics. We may group the characteristics together 
and use one word to designate their sum. We may em- 
ploy the word insect to mean the sum of the characters 
that are common to all the animals studied. We have 
now a way of expressing by a single word everything 
that is included in the table of resemblance and this 



330 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

word expresses the general abstract notion. It is general 
because it applies to every individual which possesses 
the characteristics found in our table of resemblances. 
It is abstract because it has been formed from a table 
of characters abstracted from the individuals studied. 
Whenever I use the term insect, I mean the things that 
are included in the table of resemblances. The general 
abstract notion is always formed from a table of resem- 
blances, either explicitly stated as in this case, or, — which 
is very much more common, — more or less clearly im- 
plied, and unconsciously recognized. 

Different Contents for the Same Word. — It will be 
seen from the above analysis that our general abstract 
notion will be full and complete, or weak and imperfect, 
according to whether the number of characteristics in- 
cluded in our table of resemblances is great or small. No 
two persons are likely to have exactly the same table of 
resemblances, and consequently the word, or the com- 
mon noun which expresses it, will have somewhat dif- 
ferent meanings to different individuals. Nearly all of 
our general abstract notions are formed from seeing or 
hearing words used in different relations. Much reading, 
properly interpreted by our experience, enables us to 
form the greater number of our general abstract notions. 

Difference Between Singular Concrete and General 
Abstract. — The singular concrete notion is formed by a 
combination of all the sensations that we receive from 
an object. These sensations associate themselves with 
each other according to the law of resemblance. All 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 331 

the qualities with which the sensations make us acquainted 
exist in the same place and at the same time, and so are 
associated by that law of resemblance. The general ab- 
stract notion is formed from a combination of sensations 
which correspond to qualities belonging to different ob- 
jects, and from which the table of resemblances is formed. 
It is easier to see how the process of forming the general 
abstract notion is a process of the recognition of re- 
semblances than it is to see that the singular concrete 
notion is formed in the same way. 

Can a General Abstract Xotion be Derived from ct 
Single Object. — If there is but one thing in the world 
of a particular kind it may be a fair question whether 
the notion that we get of it is a singular concrete or a 
general abstract. There is but one moon. Do we get 
a general abstract notion of the moon from studying it, 
or is it a singular concrete notion ? When there was 
but one war vessel called the Monitor, could we have a 
general abstract notion of monitor, or would it be proper 
to speak, as we came to do afterward, of a monitor ? The 
same change has occurred in the word Geyser. Once it 
meant the name of a particular spring of peculiar char- 
acter in Iceland. Other springs resembling it were dis- 
covered, and the name geyser was applied to all of them. 
It seems inadvisable to consider a notion that has only 
one representative as a general abstract notion. 

Has a General Abstract Xotion Any Actual Represen- 
tation? — Similar to the above question is the one whether 
a general abstract notion has any material representative. 



332 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Is there a general abstract cow? This is purely a matter 
of definition. Those who affirm that there is a material 
representative of a general abstract notion assert that 
anything which contains all the characters represented in 
the table of resemblances is a material representative of 
the general abstract notion, no matter how many char- 
acters it also contains which are not found in the table. 
Those who affirm that the general abstract notion has 
no material thing to correspond to it also affirm that the 
general abstract notion is merely the sum of the resem- 
blances, and anything that possesses any other characters 
cannot represent the notion. It avoids some difficulties 
to consider the general abstract notion as merely the sum 
of characters, and this is equivalent to saying that it has 
no material representative. There is no general abstract 
cow. The use of the term "general abstract notion" im- 
plies the same thing. It is a notion abstracted from the 
objects that are studied, and it is obtained by considering 
the abstracted qualities. 

Importance of Comparison. — The process of perceiv- 
ing resemblances is called comparison. The person who 
can perceive resemblances well is the person who becomes 
a philosopher. The ability to perceive resemblances may 
not exist in equal degree with the ability to perceive dif- 
ferences. The critic is seldom a philosopher, and a phil- 
osopher is not likely to be a good critic. These two pro- 
cesses of discrimination and comparison lie at the founda- 
tion of all processes of learning, and there is no other way 
to learn anything except by observing how it is like 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 333 

something else or how it differs from something else. 
This is merely another way of saying that all knowledge 
is relative, and that all processes of thinking and learning 
consist in the perception of relations. 

Logical Definition. — From our tables of resemblances 
and differences we may make a logical definition. If we 
wish to define beetle we may say that a beetle is an in- 
sect . When we have said this we have said a 

good deal, but we have not made a definition of a beetle. 
When we have said that a beetle is an insect, we have said 
all the things that are included in the table of resem- 
blances, and have distinguished it from those animals 
which do not have the characters expressed by the table, 
but we have not discriminated it from other insects. A 
fly is an insect and a bumblebee is an insect. We need 
to distinguish the beetle from these animals, and from 
the other insects which we have studied in making the 
table of resemblances. We need to look at the table of 
differences and to insert into our definition the charac- 
ters in which we found the beetle to differ from other 
insects. A beetle is an insect which has sheath wings, 
biting mouthparts and which undergoes an indirect meta- 
morphosis. 

Logical and Psychological Concepts. — Some writers, 
distinguish logical from psychological concepts, or gen- 
eral notions. There is no validity in this distinction. A 
logical concept is merely one that is clear and definite 
and which can be defined. A psychological concept, as 
these writers use the term, is a general abstract notion 



334 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

that has not become sufficiently clear to admit of defini- 
tion. We may recognize all degrees of definiteness in 
general abstract notions, and it is not only hairsplitting 
but absolutely misleading to undertake to discriminate 
one kind from another by means of the degrees of defi- 
niteness in the concept. 

Genus and Differentia. — Every real definition is made 
in this way. It is made from a table of differences, but 
it must have as its predicate nominative the general ab- 
stract notion derived from the table of resemblances. 
The predicate nominative that is so used is called the 
genus; and the characters which are found in the table 
of differences, and which discriminate the thing we are 
defining from the other things that are included in the 
same genus are called the differentia. A logical defini- 
tion, then, is a statement which manifests the nature of 
the thing defined. It always includes two things, the 
name of the genus, or the comprehensive group to which 
the thing we are defining belongs, and the differentia, 
or characteristics which separate the thing we are de- 
fining from other members of the same group. Most of 
our dictionary definitions are not definitions at all, but 
statements of distinguishing features by which we may 
be able to identify the thing that is defined. When I say 
that Mr. Brown's house is number 926 Forest Avenue, 
I have not made a definition of Mr. Brown's house nor 
a statement which manifests its nature, although I have 
enabled a person to find the place. Our dictionary defi- 
nitions are o'enerallv statements of this kind. 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 335 

Properties of the General Abstract Notion. — Let us 
examine a little farther the properties of the general ab- 
stract notion. 

Table III. 
Differences Among Arthropods. 





Grasshopper 


Crawfish 


Spider 


Centipede 


Skeleton 


Chitinous 


Calcareous 


Chitinous 


Chitinous 


Body Divisions 


Three 


Two 


Two 


One (differ- 
entiated) 


Number of legs 


Six 


Ten 


Eight 


Sixty-two 


Antennae 


One pair 


Two pairs 


None 


One pair 


Eves 


Compound 


Compound 


Simple 


Compound 




(or none) 


Breathing 


Spiracles | Gills 


So-called 
lung 


Spiracles 


Body segments 


Seventeen Twenty-one 


Undeter- 
mined 


(Thirty- 
six?) 


Wings 


Two pairs 


None 


None 


None 



Table IV. 
Resemblances of Arthropods. 

Jointed appendages. 
, ,„,„ * Jaws move sideways. 
Crawfish ) ^temal skeleton 

Double nerve cord and ganglia. 
White blood. 
Reproduce by eggs. 
Bilaterally symmetrical. 

Here we have table III, which represents the differ- 
ences existing between the groups of Arthropoda, and 



Spider 
Centipede 



336 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING! 

table IV, which represents the resemblances among the 
same animals. We derive the general abstract notion of 
Arthropoda from table IV. We can make a logical de- 
finition of insect from table III, using as the predicate 
nominative the general abstract notion Arthropod. If 
we compare table II with tables III and IV, we shall see 
that the table of resemblances has become shorter, and 
the table of differences has become longer. In fact, we 
may recognize that tables III and IV consist of the char- 
acters found in table II divided up between them. 

Another View of the General Abstract Notion.— -In- 
stead of regarding the general abstract notion as consist- 
ing of the sum of qualities associated by the law of resem- 
blance, many writers on psychology consider that it is 
the result of a single act of perception or apperception. 
They declare that the first consciousness of a child is a 
vague, undifferentiated whole, and that the process of its 
development is a process of setting apart and rendering 
consciously clear the different elements that have been 
apperceived. Such a conception of the process of form- 
ing a general abstract notion is neither demonstrable nor 
capable of being understood. It involves the assumption 
of a metaphysical faculty of the soul, which controls the 
process of association, and it appears to be an indication 
of a relapse into the old unscientific psychology of the 
past. This faculty which differentiates and sets apart 
the elements of the undifferentiated mass, is called ap- 
perception. The word is used here with a different mean- 
ing from the Herbartian sense described in Chapter XL 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 337 

The process described in this chapter is clear, capable of 
being understood, and is the one which is always acted 
upon in practice by students of botany and zoology who 
have more occasion to classify and describe general ab- 
stract notions than do any other persons. 

Comprehension and Extension. — The general abstract 
notion of arthropod is derived from a shorter table of re- 
semblances than is the general abstract notion of insect. 
The general abstract notion of .insect contains more 
characteristics than does the general abstract notion of 
arthropod. This is expressed by saying that the general 
abstract notion of insect has greater comprehension than 
does the general abstract notion of arthropod. By the 
comprehension of a notion we mean the number of char- 
acters that are included in it. But there are a greater 
number of individuals to which the term arthropod will 
apply than there are to which the term insect will apply. 
Arthropod includes all the animals that are insects, and 
many more besides. We may express this fact by saying 
that the notion arthropod has greater extension than does 
the notion insect. By the extension of a notion we mean 
the number of individuals to which it may apply, or the 
number of individuals that may be included in the no- 
tion. It will be seen that as the number of individuals 
increases, the number of characteristics that are likely 
to be common to all of them decreases. Other things 
being as they are, the greater the extension of the no- 
tion, the less the comprehension ; and the greater the com- 
prehension, the less the extension. This is the general rule, 



338 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

although in its applications it is not always strictly true. 

This entire process which has been described in the 
formation of a general abstract notion is called the 
process of generalization. Generalization results, not al- 
ways merely in the formation of a general abstract no- 
tion, but it may result in the statement of a principle or 
a law. We have employed for our illustration the notion 
expressed by a common noun, but it will be seen that the 
meaning of a verb or a preposition is as truly a general 
abstract notion as is the meaning of a noun. 

Notions Have Different Ranks. — One other property 
of the general abstract notion is discovered by the ex- 
amination of tables II, III, and IV. General abstract 
notions are not all of the same rank. The notion insect 
is of a different rank from the notion arthropod. The 
notion insect is included in the notion arthropod. Stu- 
dents of zoology and botany, those sciences which are 
especially classificatory, have devised means of express- 
ing the ranks of the different notions which they employ 
in classification. The grasshopper that we study is an 
individual. Individuals that are very nearly alike, as 
nearly alike as parent and offspring, are of the same 
species, and are called by the same name. The specific 
name of the grasshopper that we study may be femur- 
rubrum. Grasshoppers may differ specifically, and yet 
so closely resemble each other that we may call them by 
different specific names, but group them into the same 
genus. Thus the genus of our grasshopper may be 
Melanoplus. Different genera may be so nearly alike that 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 339 

we group them into the same family, the grasshopper 
family, and we may name this family Acrididae. Families 
that are alike may be grouped together and another gen- 
eral abstract notion of greater extension be formed. The 
families that are like the grasshopper family may be 
grouped together into an order, and we may name this 
grasshopper order Orthoptcra. Orders that are alike 
make up a class, and the class to which the grasshopper 
belongs is the class Insecta. Classes that are alike consti- 
tute a branch, and the name of the branch to which the 
grasshopper belongs is called Arthropoda. Branches that 
are alike constitute a kingdom, and the kingdom to which 
the grasshopper belongs is the Animal Kingdom. Thus 
we see that the different ranks into which the general 
abstract notions fall are called species, genus, family, 
order, class, branch and kingdom. 

Other Divisions. — Many other divisions are employed, 
such as sub-class, cohort, tribe, etc., but these are suf- 
ficient to indicate for us the different ranks of the gen- 
eral abstract notions. Thus the names of the gen- 
eral abstract notions derived from the tables of resem- 
blances among animals that resemble the grasshopper 
less and less closely are femur-rubrum, melanoplus, acrid- 
idae, orthoptera, insect, arthropoda and animal. These 
general abstract notions represent different ranks, each 
being subordinate, and having less extension than the 
one next succeeding it. 

The Content of Nouns. — Common nouns express no- 
tions nearly all of which are formed by the process here 



340 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

described. Our understanding of such a word will be 
full and adequate or incomplete and unsatisfactory ac- 
cording as our table of resemblances from which the 
notion is derived is long or short. Many ludicrous mis- 
takes are made in school and upon examination papers in 
consequence of the meagerness of the content of some of 
these words which express general abstract notions. The 
girl who wrote that Noah Webster founded the diction- 
ary, had an inadequate content for the word founded. 
So the pupil who said that Tom Paine invented the Pacific 
Railroad, had no satisfactory meaning for the word in- 
vented, and the one who wrote that Arnold was engaged 
in a plot to embezzle the United States was likewise de- 
ficient in her general abstract notion expressed by the 
word embezzle. 

How Acquire the Meaning of Words. — One of the 
most important and at the same time most difficult things 
for the teacher to do is to cause the children to acquire 
adequate general abstract notions, or to fill up common 
nouns with a satisfactory content. The only suggestions 
that can be given about the method of doing this is to say 
that the child must use the word in a sufficient number 
of relations, with a sufficient amount of experience with 
things to enable him to interpret what he reads; that 
is, he must acquire as long a table of resemblances as 
possible. Much reading with a sufficient amount of ex- 
perience with things to enable him to interpret what he 
reads is the most satisfactory way of filling up words with 
a content. It cannot be done verv satisfactorily 7 by means 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 341 

of dictionary definitions. Hence it is that children who 
read the most are likely to be those children who have 
the best understanding, who know most satisfactorily 
the meanings of words, and who are able to see most 
easily the relations that exist in the things under consid- 
eration. The notion is formed by abstracting the com- 
mon elements from the different uses in which the word 
is employed. This is usually an unconscious process and 
not at all the formal device employed in our illustration. 
Reading and Experience. — The word is merely one of 
the properties of the general abstract notion. It would 
avoid many dangers in the use of the word if other 
properties of the notion, and other elements that enter 
into its constitution, might be experienced before the 
word is obtained. This is the justification for the aphor- 
ism which says the thing should be given before its sym- 
bol, the meaning before the word. But in much the larger 
number of cases, the word is the first characteristic of 
the general abstract notion that the child obtains. Hence 
it follows that a very large part of the teacher's duty 
necessarily consists in causing the child to fill up his 
empty words with a content. Reading must be the chief 
reliance of the teacher, although reading, without the 
proper kind of experience that will enable the child to 
interpret or see the meaning of what he reads, is likely 
to be of little value. First hand knowledge, contact with 
things, is essential, and in many cases difficult to secure. 
General Abstract Notions Necessary to Thinking. — 
Many languages of uncivilized peoples have very few 



342 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

common nouns. It is unnecessary to say that such lang- 
uages have been developed by people who have very little 
capacity for thought. It is impossible to carry our think- 
ing processes very far without the employment of com- 
mon nouns, expressing general abstract notions. It is a 
labor saving device. If we were compelled to substitute 
for every common noun the table of resemblances which 
it is used to express and from which it has been derived, 
our use of language would be very meager and we should 
be quite helpless in thinking. 

Danger in the Use of Common Nouns. — Yet there is 
a positive danger in the use of common nouns. We are 
likely to assert of an individual object, more than is in- 
cluded in the class, merely because some other member of 
the class has the characteristics which we assert of it. 
Because it is like some other member of the class in the 
class characteristics, we are likely to assert that it is like 
other members of the class in characteristics which do 
not enter into the constitution of the general abstract no- 
tion which the name of the class expresses. Our under- 
standing of the general abstract notion is at once too 
broad, since we make it include too many characteristics, 
and at the same time too narrow, for we do not know 
all the characteristics which make it up. 

Common Nouns Have Different Meanings for Differ- 
ent Persons. — Besides this, no two persons are likely to 
have exactly the same content for a word. The list of 
resemblances which constitute the general abstract no- 
tion is seldom the same for any two individuals. Hence 



THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 343 

they have necessarily different contents, and different 
meanings for the same word. Notwithstanding these 
serious defects, the general abstract notion is indispens- 
able to our thinking. 

Synopsis. 

1. The general abstract notion is the content of a 
common noun. It is formed from a table of resemblances 
seen to exist between the individuals that are compared. 

2. In the formation of a general abstract notion, we 
must employ the processes of abstraction, analysis, dis- 
crimination and comparison. 

3. The general abstract notion is the sum of the re- 
semblances existing among the things which we com- 
pare. 

4. A logical definition includes the general abstract 
notion, or name of the class to which the thing we are 
defining belongs, and the differences which distinguish 
it from other members of the same class. 

5. Nearly all of our general abstract notions, that is, 
the meanings of common nouns, are obtained by reading 
words in the various relations in which they are used. 

6. A large part of the teacher's difficulty is found 
in the attempt to have children fill up the word with a 
content ; to acquire an adequate meaning for common 
nouns ; to make general abstract notions. 

7. Nearly all of the ludicrous errors in examination 
papers arise from the inadequacy of the general abstract 
notions which words are employed to express. 



CHAPTER XX 
The Growth of Children. 

Importance of Child Study. — Undoubtedly, the great- 
est improvements in education and in teaching in the past 
twenty-five years have come, not from the study of sub- 
jects, but from the study of children. Whatever improve- 
ments in teaching have originated in the study of the sub- 
jects of instruction have been made in consequence of 
studying the subjects for the purpose of adapting them 
better to the child. The child is constantly changing 
his nature and his disposition as he grows older ; and 
the subject matter and ideal of education must be changed 
to suit his changing nature, and to adapt it to the particu- 
lar stage of development in which he is found. It is a 
fundamental principle of teaching that the nature of 
the child shall determine both the subject that shall be 
taught and the methods of teaching. Hence arises the 
imperative necessity for making the best possible study 
of the child in all his various relations. 

Relation Between Bodily Growth and Mental De- 
velopment.— -We may readily understand that there is 
a relation between the growth of the body and the growth 
of the mind. Not only is there a parallelism, but it ap- 
pears that there is a more immediate connection between 

344 



THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 345 

the two than the word parallelism implies. A study of 
the physical growth of children will help us to interpret 
the changes in the mental processes which we call growth. 

What is Meant by Growth. — We may mean by growth 
one of two things : We may mean an increase in size 
or increase in complexity of organization. W r e may speak 
of the growth of a butterfly when it is changed from the 
caterpillar condition to the imago form, although there 
has been no increase in size. x\ll the time that has been 
passed in the chrysalis condition has been employed in 
reorganizing the material of the body. 

This is one sense of the word growth, although it is 
not the more common one. The ordinary use of the 
word means increase in size, and this increase may be de- 
termined either by measuring the extent of the body in 
one or more directions, or by weighing. Usually, in the 
case of children, increase in size is judged by measuring 
the height, and by taking the weight. We need to as- 
certain both height and weight, for we find that increase 
in height is not necessarily coordinate with increase in 
weight. 

Size of Boys and Girls. — At birth there is a difference 
in the size of boys and girls. On the average the boy 
is slightly taller and heavier than the girl. By measuring 
and weighing a thousand boys and girls at birth, and 
taking the average measurements, it has been found that 
the average boy at birth is about 19.68 inches tall and 
weighs 7.3 pounds, and the average girl at birth is 19.48 
inches tall and weighs 7.1 pounds. At the end of the 



346 



PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 



first year the boy is about 27 inches tall and weighs 21.9 
pounds, while the girl has grown to the height of 26.88 
inches and weighs 21.3 pounds. Thus it will be seen 
that in the first year of life the height of the child has in- 
creased more than seven inches, and its weight has almost 
trebled. In no subsequent year will there be anything 
like this same amount of increase in height, nor the 
same relative increase in weight. The growth in the 
second year is still great, but scarcely more than half 
the amount of increase in height and weight that is ob- 
served in the first year. 

Table of Increase in Height. 





BOYS 




GIRLS 




Age 


Height in 


Actual 


Per cent 


Height in 


Actual 


Per cent of 




inches 


height 




inches 


height 


increase 


5% 


41.7 






41.3 






6% 


43.9 


2.2 


5.3 


43.3 


2.0 


4.8 


7% 


46.0 


2.1 


4.8 


45.7 


2.4 


5.5 


8% 


48.8 


2.8 


6.1 


47.7 


2.0 


4.4 


9% 


50.0 


1.2 


2.5 


49.7 


2.0 


4.2 


10% 


51.9 


1.9 


3.8 


51.7 


2.0 


4.0 


11% 


53.6 


1.7 


3.3 


53.8 


2.1 


4.1 


12% 


55.4 


1.8 


3.4 


56.1 


2.3 


4.3 


13% 


57.5 


2.1 


3.8 


58.5 


2.4 


4.3 


14% 


60.0 


2.5 


4.3 


60.4 


1.9 


3.2 


15% 


62.9 


2.9 


4.8 


61.6 


1.2 


2.0 


16% 


64.9 


2.0 


3.2 


62.2 


0.6 


1.0 


17% 


66.5 


1.6 


2.5 


62.7 


0.5 


0.8 


18% 


67.4 


0.9 


1.4 









the growth of children 347 

Table of Increase in Weight. 





BOYS 


GIRLS 


Age 


Weight 


Actual 


Per cent of 


Weight 


Actual 


Per cent 




increase 


increase 


in pounds 


gain 


of gain 


6K 


45.2 






43.4 






7H 


49.5 


4.3 


9.5 


47.7 


4.3 


9.9 


8H 


54.5 


5.0 


10.1 


52.5 


4.8 


10.0 


9H 


59.6 


5.1 


9.3 


57.4 


4.9 


9.3 


iok 


65.4 


5.8 


9.7 


62.9 


5.5 


9.6 


\\y> 


70.7 


5.3 


8.1 


69.5 


6.6 


10.5 


\2V ? 


76.9 


6.2 


8.7 


78.7 


9.2 


13.2 


13*4 


84.8 


7.9 


10.3 


88.7 


10.0 


12.7 


UV ? 


95.2 


10.4 


12.3 


98.3 


9.6 


11.9 


15K 


107.4 


12.2 


12.8 


106.7 


8.4 


8.5 


16K 


121.0 


13.6 


12.7 


112.3 


5.6 


5.2 


17M 








115.4 


3.1 


2.8 


18M 








114.9 







Variation in Rate of Growth. — At the end of the sixth 
year, the boy has increased to 43.9 inches in height, and 
weighs 45.20 pounds. The girl, 43.3 inches in height 
and weighing 43.4 pounds, is still surpassed in height and 
weight by the boy. At twelve, the girl has passed the boy 
in both height and weight. At this time the boy is 55.4 
inches tall and weighs 76.9 pounds, while the girl is 56.1 
inches tall and weighs 78.7 pounds. This superiority of 
the girl over the boy arises in consequence of the fact 
that the girl has entered upon a period of rapid growth 
in the twelfth year, which is not entered upon by the boy 
for nearly two years afterward. So for a period of about 
three years the average of a large number of girls shows 
greater height and weight than does the average of a 
large number of boys of the same age. At the end of 



348 • PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the fifteenth year the boy surpasses the girl in both height 
and weight, and remains larger from that time forward. 

Periodicity of Growth. — In looking at these tables of 
growth we shall see that the period of rapid growth for 
both boys and girls extends over a period of about three 
years, in each year of which an increase of nearly ten 
per cent is made in both height and weight. The table 
is misleading in the fact that it involves the assumption 
that there is such an average individual, when there is 
not. The table makes it appear that there is an increase 
of nearly ten per cent in each one of the three years, 
while the fact is that for almost every one of the boys 
and girls measured, much the larger part of the growth 
of these three years occurs in a period of one year, or of 
eighteen months. The increase in one individual in one 
year is greater than any table of averages would indi- 
cate. Any particular boy is likely to grow, in some one 
of these years, four, five, or even six inches. This year 
may be the thirteenth for some boys, the fourteenth for 
others, and the fifteenth for still others. So, while the 
average of a large number of boys is about three inches 
in one year, the actual grow T th of any one boy in some of 
the three years is much larger than the average. The 
same thing is true for weight, although the extremely 
rapid increase in weight appears later than does the in- 
crease in height. 

Analogy of Plants. — Growth in children is not uni- 
form, but rhythmical, or occurs at intervals, just as it 
does in plants. Tf a growing plant be measured, it will 



THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 349 

be seen that nearly all the growth is made at night, and 
little or none is made in the daytime. This may be modi- 
fied by the influence of a cloudy day, but in general it is 
true that growth in height of a plant occurs mainly at 
night. But even in the growing-time at night the growth 
is not uniform. In one plant that may be cited as an 
example, three periods of growth were observed every 
night. The first one was the longest and the least intense. 
The second one was shorter and more intense. The third 
was the shortest and the most intense of the three. After 
this third period, no more growth was observed until the 
following night. 

First Period of Rapid Grozvth. — So in children we 
may observe three, or possibly four periods of rapid 
growth at long intervals, separated by periods of slower 
growth. This recurrence of periods of rapid growth at 
long intervals we may call the secular rhythm. The first 
period occurs in the first year and is the most intense 
and most clearly marked of all the periods. After the 
first year there is a period of slower growth until about 
the age of seven, when there is another period of rapid 
growth, not so well marked and not so intense as the 
first, but still noticeably greater than the rate of growth 
immediately preceding and following this period. In 
some children this period may occur as early as five and 
a half years, and in others it may be delayed later than 
seven. The beginning of this period marks the separa- 
tion between the period of infancy and the period of 
childhood. 



350 PRINCIPLES OF TEACPIING 

Adolescent Period. — The third period of rapid growth 
is that which occurs at the beginning of adolescence, 
and occurs in girls at about the age of twelve and in 
boys at about the age of fourteen. This period is more 
intense than the second, but not so intense as the first. 
Growth almost ceases at the age of sixteen for boys, but 
there is a tendency to resume it at about the age of 
twenty-one. If we can recognize this fourth period it 
will be found to be the least intense of the four, and 
noticeable only in consequence of the almost cessation in 
the two or three years immediately preceding. It is 
almost certain not to be observed in some individuals. 

Annual Rhythm of Growth.— Besides this secular 
rhythm, we may discover an annual or seasonal varia- 
tion in growth. All, or nearly all, the growth that a 
child makes in height in one year is made in the months 
from April to August, scarcely any growth in height 
occurring in any of the other months. The growth in 
weight occurs in the months from August to December 
and but 1 ittle in the remainder of the year. From Decem- 
ber to April there is little or no growth in either height 
or weight. 

Monthly Rhythm. — There is some evidence tending to 
show that all the growth which occurs in height and 
weight in the proper seasons for such increase occurs in 
periods extending over about half a month. Growth will 
occur for about two weeks, then there will be a period 
of no growth for the following two weeks. This may 
be called the monthly rhythm. Similarly it is believed 



THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 



351 



that all the growth in weight occurs in the daytime, and 
all the growth in height is made at night. If these sup- 
positions are true, we may discover at least four different 
kinds of rhythms in the growth of a child. 




Showing the relative proportions of the body in child and adult. 
(Langer.) 

U asymmetrical Growth. — Another fact of growth is 
even more important. Not all parts of the body grow 
to the same degree, nor do all parts of the body grow 
at the same time. Growth in height and weight are 
only two measurements of growth, and perhaps they are 
not the most important. A man is not merely a child 
grown tall. The proportions of the body of a child are 
decidedly different from the proportions of a man. The 
head of a child grows to about twice its linear dimensions 
before manhood, while the entire body grows to about 



352 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

three times its linear dimensions. Not all parts of the 
head grow in the same proportion. While the entire head 
grows to about twice its linear dimensions, the upper 
part of the head grows to only about 157/100 of the 
upper part of the head of a child. The legs grow to 
about 472/100 of the legs of the child. The arms grow 
to about 350/100 of the arms of a child, and so it is 
with every organ of the body. The different organs 
bear different proportions to each other in the man from 
what they do in the child, and they do not grow at the 
same time. At first one organ will grow rapidly. Then, 
perhaps for a number of years, there will be little or no 
increase in the size of that organ while other organs are 
growing. 

Growth of the Heart. — The relation of the capacity 
of the heart to the arteries at birth is about 25 to 20. 
This proportion increases gradually until the time just 
before the period of rapid adolescent growth the propor- 
tion is about 56 to 20. In the period of rapid adolescent 
growth the proportion rapidly increases to 97 to 20. 

Irregularity of Mental Growth. — Without assuming 
more than a parallelism between the bodily growth and 
mental development, this study of the irregularity of 
growth and disproportion in the development of different 
organs would lead us to suspect that there might be a 
corresponding disproportion in the development of the 
mental processes. The different mental abilities and in- 
stincts changing disproportionately make the character 
of the child a constantly changing quantity, and necessi- 



THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 353 

tate a corresponding change in methods of treatment, with 
an appeal to different motives leading to action. If 
growth of the physical organism occasions and condi- 
tions a development of the mental processes, then an 
irregularity of growth will produce a corresponding irreg- 
ularity in mental development. A recognition of this 
principle will explain many peculiarities in the school 
work of a child, and account for circumstances that have 
no explanation if we assume that the character of the 
child remains constant, and his mental development is 
regular and uniform. 

Relation of Bodily Growth and Mental Power. — It is 
a most important thing for teachers to know the rela- 
tions between physical growth and the ability to do mental 
work in school. Is the well-grown child a better pupil 
and more able to do good work in school than is one 
who is small and undersized? Shall we proportion our 
school work and grade the children according to size? 
At present our grading is altogether on an intellectual 
basis, and size and condition of growth have nothing to 
do with it. Accordingly we find in the first grade some 
children who are taller than are other children in the 
eighth grade. 

Children Below Grade Mentally are Smaller. — The re- 
ports of the Chicago Department of Child Study are 
significant in this respect, even though we may not con- 
sider them conclusive. Investigation of several thou- 
sand children in all the grades show that, in general, 
those children who are at and above grade in their school 



354 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

work are taller and heavier than those who are below 
grade. The difference is not very great, but it is con- 
stant. This means that the average growth of all the 
children who are below grade is less than the average 
growth of the children of the same age who are at or 
above grade. Of course, very many individual cases 
occur which do not comply with the rule, but the general 
average makes the rule conclusive. 

Criminal Children Smaller. — A comparison of the 
children in the ordinary school with the children in the 
John Worthy school emphasizes the relation between 
growth and school standing. The John Worthy school 
in Chicago is the school attached to the city prison. All 
the boys in this school are criminals and all of them 
are below grade, most of them far below grade. Meas- 
urements show that the height and weight of the boys 
in the John Worthy school are decidedly below those 
of boys of the same age in the ordinary school, even of 
those who are below grade. 

The Small Bright Child. — This conclusion that large 
children are most likely to be the brightest and mentally 
capable of doing* better school work will in all probability 
appear unsatisfactory to many teachers. Every teacher 
has probably known some child who is very small for 
his age, and who yet is the brightest pupil in his class. 
When a visitor enters a school room he will in all proba- 
bility pick out the smallest pupil in the room as the 
brightest, and not often will he be mistaken. How shall 
we account for this discrepancy? Dr. Christopher, in 



THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 355 

the reports above referred to, makes the suggestion that 
such cases are rather pathological than normal. His sug- 
gestion means that precocity is in the nature of a disease, 
and that these small children who are unusually bright 
are in danger of mental decay and an earl}* death. 

Impression of Teachers. — This is, however, not the 
general impression that is obtained by teachers from an 
examination of such cases. Teachers generally get the 
impression that there is a reciprocal relation between 
bodily growth and ability to do mental work. When a 
large proportion of energy that is available in the body is 
employed in doing physical work and in building up 
tissues there is a correspondingly smaller proportion re- 
maining for doing mental work. This conclusion, derived 
from casual observation of a few cases of precocious 
children, is directly contradictory to that derived from a 
careful and accurate examination of many thousand chil- 
dren of all kinds. It would seem that the conclusion 
derived from an examination of the larger number of 
children is more likely to be correct. How, then, shall 
we explain these cases of precocious children? 

The Small Bright Child Well Adjusted to his Work.— 
In the first place it may be observed that the cases of 
small children who are bright are likely to receive undue 
attention, merely from the fact that they are exceptional. 
The brightness of the smallest child in the room is likely 
to attract more attention than is the brightness of the 
ordinary child, or the average child in the room. He is 
likely to receive more credit for being bright than is 



356 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

properly due to him. In the second place, the fact is 
generally overlooked that the small, bright, precocious 
child seldom maintains his superiority up to the years 
of maturity, and seldom develops into a genius. He is, 
when he becomes mature, very likely to be merely an 
ordinary individual, rather than to be either a genius or 
to be stupid. Taking this fact into consideration, we may 
find an easy explanation of the precocious child in school. 
Growth Necessitates Readjustment. — The failure of 
his body to grow is paralleled by the corresponding failure 
cf his mind to change. Change always implies a demand 
for readjustment, both physical and mental. The grow- 
ing body or the growing mind is always out of adjust- 
ment with its surroundings from the very fact of its 
growing, and there is always implied the necessity for a 
readjustment to the conditions surrounding him. The 
small child, whose growth has not been so rapid as that 
of other children, is not so far removed from adjustment 
to the conditions that he meets in school at the time of 
his slow growth, as are the other children whose growth 
has been more rapid. He is not so constantly exper- 
iencing new impulses and encountering new conditions. 
He cannot have the same distractions that more rapidly 
growing children have ; consequently his school work is 
likely to be done better than that of the rapidly growing 
children whose school work suffers as a result of these 
distracting circumstances. This explanation seems to 
satisfy all the conditions involved in the problem, and 
leaves the way open for us to accept the conclusion that 



THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 357 

in general, leaving out of consideration the bright children 
whose growth has been delayed, the well-grown child 
is more likely to be up to grade in his school work than 
is the child whose growth has not been so satisfactory. 

Same Conditions Favorable to both Mental and 
Physical Growth. — Shall we, then, draw the conclusion 
that physical growth is the cause of mental growth? 
Such a conclusion would be unwarranted from the data 
considered. It is probably safe to say that the same 
conditions of good food, fresh air, exercise, heredity, and 
ethical atmosphere that are favorable to physical growth 
are at the same time and in the same degree favorable to 
mental growth. The case of the John Worthy school 
boys, who are all criminals, nearly all below grade in 
mental work, and nearly all below the average in physical 
growth, indicates that moral growth is dependent upon 
the same conditions that determine physical and mental 
growth. 

Does Rapid Mental Growth Parallel Rapid Physical 
Growth. — One other question is of interest to us. Just at 
the time of most rapid growth, is the child capable of 
doing as good work in school as he is at other times, or 
should the school work be lightened for him, and he be 
not expected to do so much? , The prevailing opinion, 
sanctioned by the writers on child study, is that the child 
in periods of most rapid growth is not capable of making 
so great intellectual progress, or studying with the same 
degree of profit, as when he is not growing. The prin- 
ciple cannot be stated absolutely, and there is even reason 



358 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

for believing that the mental growth resulting from the 
formation of new associations among the brain cells and 
brain centers parallels the rapid physical growth in height. 
The erratic character of the work, amounting to very poor 
work in the ordinary school subjects, may be accounted 
for by the growth of new interests that are excluding, in 
large part, the old. If we take into account the new in- 
terests that are forming, we may have a better under- 
standing of the kind and amount of mental work that the 
pupil is capable of doing. 

What Determines the Maximum of Growth. — The 
child will reach a certain maximum of height and weight. 
The maximum height will be reached in the early twenties, 
or sooner; but the maximum weight will scarcely be 
reached by the early forties. There is no doubt that good 
food, good air and good sanitary conditions assist growth, 
but the body tends to reach the same maximum under un- 
favorable conditions. It is difficult to estimate the effect 
of good food and other extraneous influences ; to deter- 
mine how much of the growth that is made is due to the 
hereditary factor, and how much is due to the circum- 
stances in which the growing is done. It seems, how- 
ever, that the hereditary factor is more important in 
determining the maximum growth than are good food, 
clothing and exercise. These latter factors are suscep- 
tible to great variation without materially affecting the 
maximum height and weight that may be reached. It is 
quite possible that good external conditions contribute 
more to the hastening of the growth than they do to the 
ultimate maximum. 



the growth of children 359 

Synopsis. 

1. The greatest improvements in education in recent 
years have come from a study of children, both in their 
physical nature and their mental development. It is 
necessary to adapt the subject matter of instruction to 
the necessities of the child. 

2. The growth of children is not uniform. Four 
well marked periods of rapid growth, alternating with 
intervals of slower growth may be observed. 

3. In general, the well grown child is more likely to 
be up to grade in his school subjects and in his mental 
development than is the child whose physical growth is 
less satisfactory. 

4. Mental and moral development are in all prob- 
ability dependent upon the same circumstances that con- 
dition physical growth. Of these circumstances, perhaps, 
heredity is more important than is any other one factor. 



CHAPTER XXL 
Defective Vision. 

Importance of Knowing Physical Conditions. — Some 
of the greatest improvements in teaching that have 
accrued from the recent child-study movement are de- 
rived from the greater emphasis that it has laid upon 
the physical welfare of children. Examination of the 
physical organisms of the children has led to the dis- 
closure of many defects that interfere seriously with 
their progress in school. Many cases of stupidity have 
been found to be only apparent, and to have their ex- 
planation in defects of the senses of sight and hearing. 

Indications of Poor Eyesight. — When we find a child 
who is an exceedingly poor speller, or who miscalls 
words frequently in his reading, or who fails to un- 
derstand many things in his lessons, it is well to make 
an examination of his eyesight. Some child-psychol- 
ogists believe that every case of extremely poor spell- 
ing is associated with defective eyesight, even if not 
caused directly by it. While it is perhaps too much 
to admit that this is so generally true, we may still 
recognize that many cases of poor spelling may be 
thus accounted for. At any rate, the child who has 
defective eyesight is placed at a great disadvantage in 

360 



DEFECTIVE VISION 361 

school work, and unless the teacher is aware of the 
defect in the child's vision, much injustice is likely 
to be done. One great difficulty is that the child 
himself is not always aware that his eyesight is de- 
fective. We do not ourselves recognize the fact that 
we have a blind spot in each eye. 

Illustrations. — The following circumstance came with- 
in the writer's observation. A woman, grown up. 
married, was looking through a small spyglass, prob- 
ably for the first time in her life. In trying to see 
through the glass with one eye closed, she became 
aw r are that she was blind in one eye. It was the first 
intimation of the fact that she had ever had. She did 
not know when the eye had become blind, and did not 
know but that it might have been blind from her early 
childhood. Another woman who is now a teacher in 
a high school testifies that when she was ten years old, 
her uncle, visiting the house where she was living/ re- 
marked that she needed glasses and insisted upon get- 
ting her a pair. That evening, for the first time in her 
life, she saw the stars. She had heard about the stars, 
but she did not know that they were things that could 
really be seen. It was a new world that her spectacles 
opened up to her. These are extreme cases, but it is 
in extreme cases, which are not in themselves rare, 
that the greatest injustice may be done, and the great- 
est assistance given by the teacher. 

Whom to Examine. — It is not necessary to examine 
everv child in the room in order to discover those that 



362 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

have defective vision. Poor spelling and poor reading 
have already been suggested as possible indications of 
defective eyesight. Redness of the eyes, a squinting 
appearance, headaches, are all symptoms, arid when 
any of these indications appear, the teacher should 
make tests of seeing. Examination shows that twenty- 
five per cent of all children in school have vision that 
is more or less defective. However, not more than 
about ten per cent have vision so defective that it is 
a serious disadvantage to them. It is no doubt true 
that the entire number of children in a community af- 
fected with defective vision is greater than these 
figures show, because the most serious cases do not 
enter school. 

Percentage of Defective Eyes. — The number is not 
constant in the grades. The prevailing opinion is that, 
the number of children with defective eyesight is least 
in the first grade and gradually increases in the higher 
grades. From this it is argued that school work is det- 
rimental to eyesight. Investigations seem to show that 
a considerable percentage of children in the first grade 
have defective eyesight, and that the percentage stead- 
ily increases until the fourth grade, when it begins to 
decrease. The decrease is constant until the sixth 
grade is reached, where the lowest percentage of de- 
fective eyes is found. This decrease may be associated 
with the oncoming of the period of rapid growth and 
adolescent changes, which seems to have a tendency to 
improve the eyesight of many children. After the 



DEFECTIVE VISION 363 

sixth grade, the percentage of defective eyes increases 
slowly and gradually throughout the other grades. A 
count of students in normal school classes shows usu- 
ally from twenty-five to thirty-three per cent of the 
students wearing glasses, and from five to ten per 
cent seriously inconvenienced without them. 




FlG. 73. — Diagram showing the point at which the rays of light are brought 
to a focus in different eyes. 

Myopia. — The most common kind of defective vision 
in children is myopia, or near-sightedness. In this 
case, the child must hold his book or other object 
which he wishes to see clearly at a distance less than 
the normal from his eye. The normal eye can see 
things best at a distance of about ten inches from the 
eye. The myopic eye must have it brought nearer 
than ten inches in order to see it most clearly. The 
explanation of this defect is easy. The cornea of the 
myopic eye is too convex, and rays that come from an 
object at a normal distance are brought together at a 
point in front of the retina, instead of exactly at it. 
When an object is held nearer to the eye than the 
normal distance, the rays from a point on the object are 
more diverging than they would be if they came from 



364 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the normal distance; in this way the more convex 
cornea brings the more diverging- rays to a focns at the 
proper distance behind it. In order to compensate for 
this too great convexity of the cornea, the person 
needs to wear concave glasses, which are thicker on the 
edges than they are in the middle. 

Hypermetropia. — Another defect of vision is far- 
sightedness, or hypermetropia. This defect is the op- 
posite condition from that of myopia. In far-sighted- 
ness the object that is to be seen must be held farther 
from the eye than is the case with normal vision. 
The cornea is not convex enough to bring the rays 
of light to a focus on the retina when the point is 
at the distance at which the normal eye sees best and 
the rays, in order to be brought to a focus on the 
retina, must be less diverging than when they come 
from an object at the normal distance. This result is 
accomplished by holding the object at a distance from 
the eye greater than the normal. The eyes of a person 
older than about forty are likely to become less convex 
than they were before, hence far-sightedness is com- 
mon in older persons. Some children are far-sighted. 
Sometimes, when a person has been near-sighted as a 
child, the far-sightedness resulting from age will com- 
pensate for the near-sighted condition, and the person 
will become able to see better as he grows older. The 
person who is far-sighted needs to wear convex glasses, 
which are thicker in the middle than they are at the 
edges. 



DEFECTIVE VISION 365 

Astigmatism. — Still another defect is astigmatism. 
This arises from an inequality in the convexity of the 
cornea. The eyeball ought to be a section of a sphere, 
and the surface ought to be truly spherical. But some- 
times the convexity is greater in one direction than it 
is in another, so that all the rays of light that enter 
the eye from a single point are not brought to a focus 
at the same place, and a blurred image is the result. 
The eyes of nearly every person are somewhat astig- 
matic. The appearance of rays of light radiating from 
a star, is evidence of astigmatism. However, the de- 
fect is not usually great enough to cause serious 
trouble. A person whose eyes are astigmatic needs 
glasses that are shaped especially to compensate for 
the inequality of curvature in his eyes. 

Snellen's Test Cards. — The method of testing the 
eyesight of children is easy and within the reach of 
every teacher. The usual test for myopia is Snellen's 
test cards. These cards are printed in black letters on 
a white background, or in white letters on a black back- 
ground. The letter at the top is a large E which is 
expected to be read by the normal eye at the distance 
of 200 feet. Other letters of different sizes, one size for 
each line, and which are expected to be read by the 
normal eye at distances respectively of 100, 70, 50, 40, 
30, 20, 12 and 10 feet are found on the card. 

Method of Making the Test. — The person whose 
vision is to be tested is seated at a distance of twenty 
feet from the card which is hung in a good light. 



366 PRINCIPLES OF TEACPIING 

Only one eye is tested at a time, for there is frequently 
great variation in the vision of the two eyes. The 
hand, or some other opaque object is held before the 
eye which is not being tested, and the type is read 
with the other eye. Beginning with the larger sizes 
of type, the person reads the several rows of letters 
until he comes to one that he cannot read. If he is 
able to read the row of letters that is expected to be 
read at a distance of twenty feet, then his vision is 
wMBHEDBYAiMEiicoE.oPT.cuN.HSTATtsi.cHKAdo. normal. If, however, he fails 

«IC«S SNELLEN S FEtT 

e^ M^Mi - to r ead the twenty feet row, 

and is able to read the thirty 

feet row, his visual acuity is 

■■• said to be 20/30. If he is 

nra. jm •- able to read no letters smaller 

£# %aP tnan tbe ^y teet row at a 

distance of 20 feet, his visual 

N" L D acuity is 20/50 

"a nr 1 td t 1 ^ est f or HyP erme t r °pi a - — 

The test with Snellen's cards 

E Z F B D is not very satisfactory for 

' c T L C F O ~ far-sightedness. If a person 

can read the fifteen feet row 

* EOPZFRDA 

at a distance of 20 feet, we 

•"RVTZrHDBKOPH •• 

may say that he is far-sighted, 



.TGLFRVZY! 



Test for Myopia. This but a P erson ma Y be far-sight- 
cut is reduced to 1/10 size. ed an( j st [\i ^ una ble to read 

it in consequence of the letters being too small to make a 
sufficiently large visual angle to permit them to be 



DEFECTIVE VISION 00/ 

read. The definition may be perfect at the greater 
distance, but the visual angle too small. 

Pray's Astigmatic Letters. — Pray's astigmatic letters 
are used as a test for astigmatism. The letters are 
large and composed of alternate black and white lines, 
the lines in any one letter running parallel to each 
other. The letters are of the same size and twelve in 
number. The lines that constitute one letter run 
horizontally and those which constitute another make 
an angle of fifteen degrees with the horizon. The other 
letters are composed of lines which vary from these 
positions by increasing differences of fifteen degrees, 
making angles with the horizon, of 30, 45, 60, 75 and 
90 degrees respectively. Then varying in the other 
direction back to the original horizontal position. Each 
letter has the same proportion of its surface composed 
of black lines that the other letters do, so that to a 
normal eye, one letter will appear just as black as any 
other. If some of the letters look darker than do the 
others, it is evidence of an astigmatic condition, and 
the direction of the lines in the letters which look 
darker will indicate the direction of the greatest curva- 
ture of the cornea. 

Treatment of Defective Vision. — These are the de- 
fects in vision which are the most common and most 
easily escape notice. Diseases of the eye which are 
characterized by inflamed lids and ulcerated cornea are 
known in other ways. Practically all cases of myopia, 
hypermetropia and astigmatism may be improved by 



368 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the use of glasses properly fitted, hence it is of im- 
portance for the progress of the children that the 
teacher or other person shall make such examination 
of the eyes as will prevent injustice from being done, 
and enable children to do their best work in school. 
While the teacher should be able to test the eyes to 
o*PRAr»A,T,c M AT,cLrTTc* 5 discover defects, the 

prescribing of glasses, 
or other means of im- 
provement of eyesight 
must be left to the 
skilled oculist. 

School Work and 
Defective Vision. — The 
>i charge is frequently 

made that school work 
is detrimental to, eye- 
sight, and many per- 
^$^£ ^^ ^? ^ons are inclined to at- 



=T= sssrsjB s§bs^ 

JM U ^ 

Z 6 B 

** ^ f°® 



C* 



'fsjy r&*^ ^2* tribute much of the de- 

Test for Astigmatism."' Re- fective eyesight in chil- 
duced to 1/10 size. c i ren to school work. 

If this were proved to be true, it would be a 
serious charge against the schools. A previous state- 
ment has shown the result of investigation which in- 
dicates that the sixth grade manifests a smaller per- 
centage of children with defective vision than do other- 
grades, and this does not corrobrate the charge. It is 
extremely probable that better hygienic conditions, so 



DEFECTIVE VISION 369 

far as the use of the eyes is concerned, prevail in 
school than in the home. There is scarcely a school- 
room in which children are compelled to read while 
facing- the light and scarcely a teacher would permit 
them to do so. At home, children are under little re- 
straint in this matter and many of them certainly read 
under the w r orst possible conditions of poor light, and 
while facing the source of illumination. 

When the eyes of a child are turned toward the 
light, the pupillary reflex tends to close up the pupil 
by the contraction of the circular muscles in the iris 
and to decrease the amount of light which is admitted. 
When the page of the book which the pupil is reading 
is turned away from the light, little light falls upon 
it and it is poorly illuminated. When the child is 
trying to read such an unilluminated page, the pupil- 
lary reflex tends to open the pupil by the contraction 
of the radial muscles of the iris. When the pupil is 
trying to read while facing the light, both conditions 
prevail. The page of the book is poorly illuminated 
and the light enters the eye directly. The consequence 
is that the radial muscles try to enlarge the pupil of 
the eye at the same time that the circular muscles are 
trying to close it and the two sets of muscles are 
acting at the same time in opposition to each other. 
Such a condition results in muscle strain in the pupil- 
lary muscles and there is likely to result an inflamed 
condition of the iris and adjacent tissues from such 
excessive strain. 



370 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Reading and Defective Vision. — It may be asserted 
that reading itself is detrimental to eyesight. This 
is the one thing which is characteristic of school work, 
and even the reading that is done outside of school in 
preparation of lessons may be charged up to its ac- 
count. If the print in the books that are read is not 
of the proper kind, injury may easily result. How- 
ever, nearly all school books are good examples of 
book-making. The print should not be smaller than 
small pica, which has letters six-one hundredths of an 
inch high, and the letters should be spaced at least 
three and a half hundredths apart. With type not 
smaller than this and properly printed, it is doubtful 
if the amount of reading that school work demands 
will produce any injury to the eyes. 

Proper Amount of Light. — The manner in which the 
light is admitted to the room will have an effect upon 
the eyesight of children. The window surface must be 
great enough to furnish a sufficient amount of light on 
a cloudy day, and on a bright day some of the light 
must be shut out by window shades. The window 
surface ought to be one-fourth or one-fifth as great as 
the floor space, although this estimate will be modi- 
fied by the proximity of other houses, or trees that 
may shade the windows. The shape of the room will 
also modify it somewhat, since if the windows are all 
on the short side of the room, the light will not be so 
well distributed as if they are on the long side. 

Direction of Light. — The light should come from the 



DEFECTIVE VISION 371 

rear and from the left. The only reason for having 
it come from the left rather than from the right is 
that in writing we move from the left hand side of the 
page toward the right. Nearly all persons use the 
right hand in writing. If the light should come from 
the right, the portion of the word which has already 
been written, and which is the place at which we must 
look in guiding our hand to complete the word and to 
make the next stroke, will be in the shadow. If the 
light comes from the left, no such shadow is thrown 
upon the part of the word that is already written. 

For reading, there is no difference whether the light 
comes from the left or from the right. It is evident 
from what has been said above that no windows should 
be in the side of the. room in front of the children. If 
all the light should come from the rear, the shadow of 
the children's heads and shoulders will fall upon a 
book that is held in front, so this position for the 
windows is not to be recommended. A skylight in a 
room furnishes a very satisfactory source of illumina- 
tion. The color of the walls will exercise some in- 
fluence upon the illumination. If the walls are white, 
an otherwise dark room will be lighter, while a large 
amount of blackboard surface will produce an opposite 
effect. 

Window Shades. — Some means of excluding the ex- 
cess of light on a bright day are necessary. For this 
purpose window shades are employed, and these are 
various in their kinds, A light yellow or buff shade 



372 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

that will permit some light to pass through it is usually 
more nearly satisfactory than one that is opaque. Red 
shades are believed to be injurious to the eyes. When 
part of the light needs to be shut out, it is better to 
shut it out from the bottom than from the top. Hence 
it is believed to be more desirable for the window 
shades to be so hung as to be pulled up from the 
bottom than to be drawn down from the top. Devices 
are in use that permit the adjustment of the window 
shade to hang from any point desired. Inside wooden 
shutters, or slatted blinds are more nearly permanent, 
less likely to be out of repair, and are very satisfactory 
as a means for regulating the light. Every schoolroom 
should be supplied with some means of artificial illumi- 
nation so that on the not very rare occasions of un- 
usual darkness accompanying a rainstorm, the school 
work may not be interrupted. 

Color Blindness. — One other form of defective vision 
may be noticed. There are cases of color blindness, 
which prevents a person so affected from recognizing 
colors, and everything appears to him as black or white 
or various shades of gray. The general appearance of 
things is identical with that shown in a photograph. 
About four men in a hundred are color blind, and a 
very few women, perhaps not more than one in a 
thousand. The test for color blindness cannot be 
made by asking a person to name the colors shown to 
him, but by asking him to match the color of var- 
ious articles, such as colored ribbons, or bits of 



DEFECTIVE VISION 373 

worsted. If he matches the colors correctly, he is not 
color blind, but if he puts into the same group reds 
and greens or various shades of blue, it is evidence 
of color blindness. 

Synopsis. 

1. Defective vision is a cause of poor school work 
in some children. In order to prevent injustice to the 
child, and to secure the best work, the teacher should 
be prepared to make tests of vision. 

2. Myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism are the 
principal defects in the vision of school children. 

3. Snellen's test cards are employed for making the 
test for myopia, and with less accuracy, for hyperme- 
tropia. Pray's astigmatic letters constitute a conven- 
ient test for astigmatism. 

4. School work may be done in such a manner as 
to injure the eyesight, but it is very probable that in 
to injure the eyesight, but it is very probable that in 
school than in the homes of the children. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
Defective Hearing. 

Number of Children With Defective Hearing. — All 
that has been said in the previous chapter about de- 
fective vision may be repeated with emphasis about 
defective hearing. We find that many children suc- 
ceed poorly in their school work in consequence of de- 
fective hearing, and it is important, both to the teacher 
and to the children, that the teacher shall know 
whether a particular child can hear well or not. Many- 
cases of serious injustice have occurred from the fact 
cent of children have hearing that is more or less de- 
fective hearing. We know that about twenty-five per 
cent of children have hearing that is more or less de- 
fective in one or both ears. This number is least in 
the lowest grades, and rises gradually until in the 
eighth grade, perhaps, one-third are affected. How- 
ever, not more than ten per cent are likely to have 
hearing so defective as to interfere materially with the 
success of their school work. 

Necessity for Prompt Treatment. — It is important 
to the child, also, that the state of his hearing shall 
be recognized by some one capable of giving compe- 
tent advice, for in nearly all such cases prompt and 
skillful attention may remedy the defect. Promptness 

374 



DEFECTIVE HEARING 375 

is an important matter in all cases of defective hearing. 
Some cases are recorded of really pitiful examples of 
injustice done in consequence of the teacher's ignor- 
ance of the child's state of hearing. In the Child Study 
Monthly, Volume I, is recorded the case of a boy, 
Archie, who was kept in the first grade for five suc- 
cessive years in consequence of his inability to ac- 
complish the work of the grade. Younger children 
from the same family had passed into the other grades, 
but Archie was recognized as a dunce. One day the 
principal of the school in a store at holiday time asked 
Archie what he wanted for Christmas. Archie pointed 
to a dumb watch. Then the teacher inquired why not 
have one like his, that would tick. Attempts to show 
the difference led to the surprising discovery that 
Archie could not hear the watch tick at all. The 
principal took him immediately to a physician who re- 
moved the adenoid growths wdiich caused the deafness, 
and Archie returned to school. Within six weeks 
Archie had become the best pupil in the room, and 
within a year had recovered nearly all the ground that 
had been lost in his years of deafness. 

This is an extreme case, but we are likely to find 
such cases at any time. The pitiful part of the mat- 
ter is that the child himself is not likely to know that 
he is deaf, but must accept the alternative that he is 
stupid. It is only when some one investigates and 
informs him of the fact that he becomes aware of his 
deafness. 



376 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

Apparent Stupidity Due to Deafness. — Defective 
hearing induces the appearance of stupidity. When 
we have a very stupid child in school, the first thing to 
do is to examine his hearing". Sometimes we may be led 
to suspect defective hearing by the facial expression 
of stupidity, or by the open mouth in breathing. In- 
attention, disobedience, failure to comply with the re- 
quests of the teacher, sometimes all of these arise from 
an inability to hear, and the teacher must be alert to 
its signs. Even when a child can hear well enough to 
understand what is said in the schoolroom, there is 
such a strain upon the attention, caused by the defect, 
that fatigue soon intervenes, and the child fails to ac- 
complish as much as he might. 

Causes of Defective Hearing. — Defective hearing 
may be caused by various conditions. Some of the 
most serious cases arise as the after effect of disease. 
Probably a larger number of children become deaf 
from scarlet fever than from any other cause. Another 
cause of defective hearing is catarrh, which acting 
upon the mucous membrane of the throat and nasal 
passages, is likely to close up the Eustachian tube, 
and to produce inflammation of the organs of the mid- 
dle ear itself. The removal of the inflammatory con- 
dition as soon as possible is the only remedy, and 
prompt measures are necessary to prevent the condi- 
tion from becoming chronic. Sometimes adenoid 
growths, which are excrescences upon the posterior 
portions of the nasal organs, press upon the Eustachian 



DEFECTIVE HEARING 



377 



tubes and prevent the free egress and ingress of the 
air. This produces deafness, and the remedy is the 
removal of the adenoid tissue. Sometimes enlarged 
tonsils press upon the Eustachian tubes, and the re- 
moval of the tonsils is the usual treatment. The sep- 
tum of the nose may be so crooked as to prevent the 



ADENOIDS 




NASAL § 
CAVITY % 



Where the Adenoids Form. 
Showing how adenoids or enlarged tonsils obstruct normal 
breathing. Note the large nasal cavity, the lining of which 
covers an area of over twenty square inches, and serves to 
warm, moisten and purify the air before it passes on into the 
throat. This cut shows a large mass of adenoids hanging 
from the roof of the naso-pharyngeal cavity (the expanded 
upper end of the throat.) 

easy introduction of the air into the middle ear. In 
such cases the septum needs to be straightened. In 
nearly all cases of partial deafness, the trouble is with 



378 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the middle ear, and arises from a stoppage of the 
Eustachian tube. 

The Watch Test. — Fortunately, the method of test- 
ing the hearing is an easy one. In an ordinary room, 
as still as convenient, the teacher ascertains how far 
the pupil can hear a watch tick. Wide variations in the 
hearing of children will be discovered, and it will be 
necessary for the teacher first to establish a norm for 
the watch he is using. The average distance at 
which children can count the ticks, may be adopted as 
the norm for the particular watch used. Probably the 
average for all the children in the room will serve well 
as a norm for the watch. Some children may hear the 
watch tick at a distance of ten feet, while other chil- 
dren whose hearing is not noticeably defective will hear 
it at only three feet. 

How Employed. — Having tested the watch, the 
teacher proceeds to test the child by means of it. The 
child is directed to close his eyes. This is necessary 
in order that he shall not be led into error by reporting 
the watch as heard when its presence is known by 
some other means than its ticking. Sometimes it is 
necessary to blindfold a child before we can place re- 
liance upon his report that the watch is heard. The ear 
that is not being tested should be covered by the hand, 
or some other device for excluding sound from it 
should be employed. Each ear should be tested sepa- 
rately, for it is often the case that the two ears are 
not of equal acuteness. 






DEFECTIVE HEARING 379 

Precautions Observed. — Before proceeding to make 
the test the watch should be wound, for only by this 
means can we assure ourselves that it will tick with 
uniform loudness. When a watch is newly wound it 
will tick more loudly than when it is nearly run down. 
It is not the loudness that is necessary so much as it is 
the uniformity of loudness. 

Method of Making the Test. — When a child is seated 
in a chair with the ear to be tested turned toward the 
teacher, the watch is held at such a distance from the 
child that it is improbable he can hear it. The teacher 
by some word, as "Now," indicates the time that the 
child is to report whether the watch can be heard or 
not. The child may respond by "Yes," or "No." Then, 
if the ticking is not heard the teacher brings the 
w T atch nearer until it is distinctly heard. Then the 
watch is carried away from the ear until it can no 
longer be heard, the child reporting at frequent inter- 
vals whether it is heard or not. These tests are re- 
peated until the teacher is satisfied of the correctness 
of the report, and the distance at which the watch can 
just be heard is measured. If the distance is as great 
as previous tests of the watch have shown that it can 
be heard by other children, the child does not have 
defective hearing. 

Manipulation of the Watch. — Care must be taken in 
the manipulation of the watch. The child must not 
be seated near a wall, for the wall will tend to reflect 
the sound and so increase the loudness of the tick. 



380 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

The watch must not he held in the palm of the hand, 
but suspended by the bow, for the hand will furnish 
a reflector for the sound. The watch should some- 
times be removed from the presence of the pupil and 
put into some place where it is impossible for the 
child to hear it while he does not suspect that it has 
disappeared. Only in such ways and with such pre- 
cautions can the teacher be certain that the child really 
hears the watch and not merely imagines it. An illus- 
ion, or hallucination of hearing, is very easily induced 
in these tests. 

The Whisper Test. — Another test is necessary to 
corroborate the watch test. The teacher stands about 
thirty feet from the pupil and whispers words with as 
nearly uniform degree of loudness as possible. The 
pupil repeats the words that the teacher has whispered 
as nearly as he understands them. If the words are 
not correctly repeated, the teacher approaches more 
closely to the child until the words can be repeated 
correctly. The principal source of error in this test 
is the variation in loudness of the whisper that the 
teacher gives. In an ordinary room, not perfectly still 
but moderately quiet, a person whose hearing is not 
defective may hear a whisper at a distance of about 
twenty feet. By means of these tests the teacher can 
determine pretty definitely what pupils have defective 
hearing and how serious the defect may be. 



defective hearing 381 

Synopsis. 

1. Defective hearing is equally prevalent with de- 
fective vision, and produces as disastrous results upon 
the work of the child. 

2. Promptness in recognizing defective hearing and 
advice toward its proper treatment is imperative if the 
defect is not to become permanent. 

3. The watch test and the whisper test are reliable 
and convenient for a teacher to use in testing for de- 
fective hearing. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Fatigue, Left-Handedness, Nervousness, Posture 
and Disease. 

Two Kinds of Fatigue. — It is necessary for us to 
know something about fatigue in school, for other- 
wise we may act very injudiciously toward children, 
and produce permanent injury to them. There are 
two kinds of fatigue, muscular and nervous. Muscular 
fatigue arises from changes in the muscle cells, which 
are brought about usually by excessive activity. Nerve 
fatigue depends upon changes occurring in nerve cells 
and may be brought about by a variety of causes. Of 
the two kinds, nerve fatigue is much more common 
among students, although it is difficult to distinguish 
one form from the other. 

Beneficial Nature of Fatigue. — Fatigue is a feeling 
characterized by a painful tone, and like other painful 
feelings it has its beneficent effect. It is a warning 
of possible danger, and an intimation that injury to 
the organs in which the fatigue originates may occur, 
if the excessive activity is continued. Its origin may 
be explained upon the principle of natural selection. 

It is probable that in nearly all cases, nerve fatigue 
occurs in the brain cells and not in the fibres. It is 

382 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 3&3 

scarcely too much to say that under normal conditions. 
it is impossible to fatigue a nerve fiber. The muscle 
cells which lie at one end of the fiber, and the gang- 
lion cells which lie at the other end will become ex- 
hausted to such a degree as to prevent the generation 
of a nervous impulse for the fiber to transmit, long 
before the fiber becomes fatigued. Hence the fatigue 
of the fiber becomes practically impossible. 

Fatigue may arise from either one or both of two con- 
ditions. When a brain cell or muscle fiber is acting, there is 
an oxidation of tissue to liberate energy. If the oxida- 
tion of tissue goes on more rapidly than its restoration, 
fatigue will ensue. If the oxidation is continued long 
enough, the point of complete exhaustion will be 
reached, and the muscle cell or the nerve tissue will 
be unable to liberate any more energy. 

Fatigue Due to Poisonous Products. — But there is 
another process which is even more effective in pro- 
ducing fatigue than the excessive oxidation of tissue. 
As the tissue is oxidized, there are produced toxic sub- 
stances which are not merely waste products, but 
active poisons. They not only clog the system, pre- 
venting its functioning with a normal degree of read- 
iness, but also serve to poison the body, preventing its 
usual degree of activity in every way. These waste 
products and toxic substances must be eliminated from 
the system and carried away from the tissues. If the 
fatigue poison is eliminated from the body as rapidly 
as it is produced, fatigue does not follow. But if it is 



384 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

produced more rapidly than it can be eliminated by 
the excretory organs, it will be carried by the blood to 
all parts of the body, affecting all its tissues, and 
fatigue will be experienced over the whole body. Every 
tissue becomes poisoned and its activity impaired. It 
is probable that the effect of the accumulation of 
fatigue poisons rather than the depletion of the tissue 
cells, is the source of the feeling of fatigue. 

Conditions of Fatigue. — From the above considera- 
tions we are able to state the conditions that induce 
fatigue and the means of preventing it. Taking the 
first cause for the production of fatigue, we see that 
fatigue soon follows if there is not an opportunity for 
the rebuilding of the tissues. If the body is poorly 
nourished in consequence of lack of food, or improper 
food, or from some failure to assimilate the food that 
is furnished, fatigue soon follows any exertion. A 
person who desires to do good work must eat plenty 
of food of the right kind. 

Vital Capacity<. — Not only is food needed to keep up 
the supply of tissue which may be oxidized, but it is 
equally important that oxygen be furnished for the 
oxidizing process. If the air that the person breathes 
is impure, or if the capacity of the lungs is small, 
fatigue is likely to follow upon the doing of a smaller 
amount of work than if the air is pure and the capacity 
of the lungs greater. If the number of respirations 
per minute is small, fatigue follows sooner. So im- 
portant is this matter of obtaining oxygen, that the 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 385 

capacity of the lungs is sometimes called the vital 
capacity. 

El im ination of Fatigue Poisons. — Several conditions 
contribute to the carrying away of the toxic products. 
The lungs and the skin are the most important organs 
in eliminating the products of fatigue. The transfusion 
of gases through a membrane goes on most rapidly 
when the gases on opposite sides of the membrane are 
most unlike. Hence when the air that is taken into 
the lungs is pure, containing the greatest amount of 
oxygen and none of the gaseous fatigue products, these 
products will be eliminated from the body with the 
greatest rapidity. If the air that the person breathes 
is impure, removal of fatigue products will proceed 
slowly. Exercise is beneficial in so far as it quickens 
circulation and assists elimination. When it goes 
beyond this point, exercise becomes injurious and in- 
duces fatigue rather than prevents it. 

Methods of Investigating Fatigue. — There are several 
methods of studying fatigue. One is by means of 
the chronoscope, which is an instrument for measuring 
short intervals of time, even down to the one-thous- 
andth part of a second. The interval between the 
time that a signal is given and the time that the per- 
son responds is called his reaction time. In general, 
fatigue increases reaction time ; and by knowing how r 
much it has been increased, we are able to estimate the 
amount of fatigue. 

Esthesiometer. — Another method of studying fatigue 



386 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

is by means of the esthesiometer, or sense measurer. 
This method depends upon the fact that fatigue dimin- 
ishes the acuteness of the senses. The usual manner 
of employing this principle is by means of the sense 
of touch. We learn in studying the senses that the 
points of a pair of dividers must be placed a certain 
distance apart on a particular portion of the skin be- 
fore they can be recognized as two points. When the 
subject is fatigued the points must be spread farther 
apart in order to be perceived as two, than when 
he is not fatigued. We may take the increase in the 
distance that the points must be separated as the 
measure of fatigue. 

Another means of investigating fatigue is by means 
of the ergograph. This is an instrument by means of 
which the work done in a limited interval of time by 
some organ, such as the middle finger may be meas- 
ured. When a person is not fatigued, the middle 
finger can lift a certain weight a specified distance in 
a minute. When the person is fatigued he can not 
lift the weight so far. So the decrease in the distance 
that the weight can be lifted in a minute may be taken 
as a measure of fatigue. 

The Ergograph. — The ergograph consists of a cord 
moving over a friction wheel, and carrying a weight at 
one end. The weight employed is usually about one- 
seventh of the weight of the body. The other end of 
the string is attached by a loop to the middle finger. 
The hand is fastened by straps and braces so that 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 387 

only the finger is capable of moving. To the string, 
somewhere along its course, is attached a pencil which 
makes a mark as the finger pulls up the weight. The 
paper upon which the mark is made is best attached 
to a rotating drum so that the variation in distance 
for the different pulls as well as the total distance 
through which the weight is pulled may be measured. 
Arithmetical Calculation. — The foregoing methods of 
studying fatigue are all physical or physiological. 




Other methods purely mental have been devised. One 
employs arithmetical calculations. A person is set to 
adding ten columns of numbers, each column consist- 
ing of fifteen figures. When a person is not fatigued, 
he will make a certain number of mistakes. When he 
is fatigued, the number of errors will be greater. The 
increase in the number of errors over that made when 
he is not fatigued, will indicate the measure of his 
fatigue. 

Memory Test. — Similarly, memory may be used as 
a test for fatigue. A person can commit to memory, 



388 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

a certain number of lines, or nonsense syllables, with 
a certain number of repetitions when he is not fatigued. 
When he is fatigued, he must employ a larger number 
of repetitions, or he can learn a smaller number of 
syllables with one reading. The number of repeti- 
tions that are required, or the number of syllables that 
can be learned with one reading may be taken as the 
measure of fatigue. 

Variations of Fatigue in One Day. — By the use of 
some or all of these methods much has been learned 
about the fatigue incident to a school day. Begin- 
ning with the first hour in the morning, fatigue does 
not begin to manifest itself for the first half an hour or 
more. It becomes apparent at the end of the first 
hour, and steadily increases until the noon recess. Then 
there is a rapid recuperation until the first period in 
the afternoon, after which fatigue increases rather 
steadily until four o'clock when school closes. The 
hour from three to four is a better hour for school 
work than is the hour from eleven to twelve. 

Different subjects are found to have different fa- 
tigue results. Subjects in which there is much mem- 
orizing, are found to be the most fatiguing. Latin 
mathematics, and grammar are most so ; music and 
drawing the least. There is a difference in the re- 
sults of investigations concerning physical exercise ; 
some investigators report it the most fatiguing, others 
report it the least. It probably depends upon the 
length of time and the intensity of the exertion whether 



FATIGUE, POSTURE,, AND DISEASE 389 

it is fatiguing or not. Some investigators have re- 
ported different hours in the day as having different 
fatigue value, thus establishing a kind of fatigue 
rhythm. The probability is that there is no particular 
fatigue value either for a certain hour or for a speci- 
fied subject, but that the fatigue resulting from a 
specific subject in a certain hour depends upon the 
amount of nervous energy that is expended in study- 
ing that subject, or in that particular hour. 

In school we may observe several external signs of 
fatigue. In bad cases, we may observe nervousness, 

Ti'me 



VIII IX 


X X/ til 1 


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o+ wcvl< 

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Fatigue Curve. 

inattention, inability to learn, the drawn and set 
countenance. All of these are signs of fatigue. 

Feeling and Fatigue. — We have already observed 
that a brain cell fatigues much more readily than does 
a nerve fiber. We may associate this with the fact 
that a nervous impulse encounters much more re- 
sistance in a brain center than it does in a nerve. So 
too, any action that is habitual, is less fatiguing than 
one that is new 7 and unfamiliar. We may associate 
this with the fact that a new action is accompanied by 



390 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

a much greater resistance than is the habitual one. 
As a result of these and similar observations we may 
make the assertion that fatigue is directly associated 
with resistance. It can be shown to be highly probable 
that resistance in a nervous arc is directly associated 
with feeling. Hence we may recognize as a fact that 
the greater the amount of feeling which accompanies 
an act the greater the fatigue engendered. 

Pain and Fatigue. — Painful or unpleasant activities 
are usually more fatiguing than are those that are 
pleasant, or indifferent, or less painful. Painful feel- 
ing is nearly always associated with a strong resist- 
ance, while a pleasant feeling is usually associated 
with a resistance not so strong. Hence we may have 
an explanation for the fact that activities accompanied 
by feelings of an unpleasant tone are fatiguing, while 
those that are accompanied by feelings of a pleasant 
tone are less fatiguing. 

Pleasure and Fatigue. — But, even actions accompa- 
nied by feelings of a pleasant tone will produce fa- 
tigue, which is less likely to be the case with activities 
accompanied by feelings having an indifferent tone. 
If the feeling accompanying an act is one of indif- 
ference, we shall likely have muscular fatigue mani- 
festing itself before the nervous fatigue appears. 

Left-Handedness 

Breaking a Child of Left-Handedness. — Some chil- 
dren are left-handed and others are riofht-handed. The 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 



391 



practical question for teachers and parents is. "Shall 
we break a child of being left-handed and compel him 
to use his right hand? The reasons for doing so 
are found in the fact that a great majority of persons 
are right-handed, and our conventions are adapted gen- 
erally for right-handed persons, so that a left-handed 
person appears awkward and conspicuous. We shake 





„.-■-, *->-**'"""¥r vm ^ 




f. 






Z ■■■ 













The Left Half of the Human Cerebrum. 
The words "leg," "trunk." "arm," "face." are printed over the 
centers that control the corresponding parts of the body. 
Other words show where different sensations and memories 
are located. 

hands with the right hand. We write toward the right 
side of the page, and we read in the same direction. 
Tools of all kinds are made for use with the right 
hand, and few tool-makers make tools for left-handed 
persons. 

Right-Handedness and Speech. — Right-handedness 
is associated with the development of speech. The 



392 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

child becomes right-handed or left-handed before he 
can talk, and it is probable that right-handedness is 
associated with the development of the speech center 
in the left hemisphere of the brain. The speech center 
is situated near the lower part of the fissure of Ro- 
lando, in close proximity to the motor a^ea, and in 
fact constitutes a portion of that area. The muscles of 
speech are mostly medial organs, and while they might 
with equal facility be innervated from either side of 
the brain, in nearly all persons they are innervated 
from the left side. 

Hoiv RigJit-Handedness Favors Speech. — The motor 
area for the hand and arm of the right side of the 
body is in close proximity to the speech center on the 
left side of the brain. It is well known that the de- 
velopment of one portion of the brain area is likely 
to produce a modification of adjacent areas, so that 
the development of the motor area for the right hand 
and arm is likely to produce a development of the 
speech center in close proximity to it. Hence we see 
that the development of the speech center is aided by 
the development of the muscular movements of the 
right hand and arm. 

Left-Handedness and Speech. — A left-handed person 
may have the speech center on the left side of the 
brain, or he may have it on the right side. With 
nearly all persons there is probably a strong hereditary 
tendency to have it on the left side of the brain. If a 
left-handed person has the speech center on the left 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 393 

side of the brain, it implies that the speech center is 
developed under the influence of heredity rather than 
in consequence of the movements of the hand and arm. 
The tendency to organize the speech center on the 
left side of the brain, which arises as a consequence 
of descent from many generations of right-handed 
people, may be strong enough to overcome the in- 
fluence of the use of the left hand, which undoubtedly 
would tend to make the speech center on the right 
side. This fact may furnish an explanation of some 
other phenomena. 

Left-Handed Children Often Defective in Speech. — 
Some psychologists have asserted that every left- 
handed child has some kind of a defect in his speech. 
It may be a lisp or a stammer or a stutter. If the 
speech center in any case, is on the right side, there 
is no reason why a left-handed child should have a 
defect in his speech. If, however, the left-handed child 
does manifest a defect in speech, it is evidence tolerably 
strong that the speech center is on the left side. Also, 
we may affirm that not all left-handed children w r ill 
have a defect in speech, for some of them undoubtedly 
have the speech center on the right side. 

Why Not Break a Child .of Being Left-Handed?— 
Now returning to the practical question, we shall see 
that undertaking to break a child from being left- 
handed is likely to disturb the development of the 
speech center, and to injure seriously the power to 
talk. Other mental processes are likely to be impaired, 



394 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

and the formation of associations between brain cen- 
ters prevented. The entire effect is likely to be dis- 
astrous to the course of mental development. It is 
a safe rule to follow, never to break a child from 
being left-handed after he has begun to talk. 

An Exception. — There is one consideration, however, 
that may be regarded as a modification of the above 
rule. When a child is left-handed and has not learned 
to write, it may be worth while to teach him to use 
his right hand in writing, although his natural dis- 
position would lead him to use his left hand. The ad- 
vantages of using the right hand in writing are many 
and great. We write toward the right hand side of 
the page. It is a pure conventionality, and the people 
who first taught us to employ writing might just as 
well have adopted the practice of going from right to 
left, or from top to bottom, or bottom to top. But the 
plan was adopted to go from the left toward the right, 
and we must of necessity conform to it. If we use the 
right hand in writing, we are writing away from the 
median line of the body and can see the portion of the 
letter or the word that has already been written with- 
out looking over the writing hand. If, however, we 
use the left hand in writing, we are writing toward the 
median line of the body, and in order to see the portion 
of the word that has already been written, we must 
look over the writing hand. In consequence of this 
conventionality there is a distinct advantage in using 
the right hand in writing. To learn a new act is very 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 395 

different from breaking away from one habit and learn- 
ing the action in another way. If a child has already 
learned to write with his left hand, there can be no 
question that it is better to let him continue to use it. 
Unidexterity and School Standing. — There is a theory 
widely prevalent but seldom acted upon, that a per- 
son ought to become as skillful in the use of one hand 
as the other. Some teachers have insisted that children 
should become ambidextrous. Investigations do not 
reveal anything to support this notion. Investigations 
show that the children in school who are at and above 
grade are decidedly more unidextrous than the children 
below grade. Also the children in juvenile prisons, 
all of whom are criminals, and all of them below grade 
intellectually, are decidedly less unidextrous and more 
nearly ambidextrous than are the children below grade 
in the ordinary school. It seems as if there is a direct 
relation between unidexterity and school standing. 

Nervousness 

Test for Nervousness. — Some children in school are 
nervous. Nervous children cannot sit still. They jump 
at a sudden noise, are weary, and easily fatigued. 
Sometimes nervousness becomes chronic and so pro- 
nounced that it is called chorea, or St. Vitus dance. 
The teacher may test for nervousness in various ways. 
If he asks all children to stand with their hands and 
arms outstretched, the nervous children will be indi- 
cated by the convulsive or twitching movements of 



396 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

their outstretched hands. If the hands of a nervous 
child are laid palm downward upon the hands of the 
teacher a twitching can be felt that is rather a deli- 
cate test for nervousness. 

Serious Nature of Nervousness. — Nervousness is a 
disease of a rather serious nature. In its worst forms 
it becomes nervous prostration, which is the result of 
continued fatigue reaching the point of complete ex- 
haustion. The probability is great that, when the de- 
gree of nervous exhaustion is reached which is indi- 
cated by the correct use of the term nervous prostra- 
tion, the nerve cells never completely recover. The in- 
jury is permanent. 

Cause of Nervousness. — This association of nervous- 
ness with fatigue gives us the key to its nature. Nerv- 
ousness indicates a lack of nervous energy, which is 
perhaps manifested more positively through the failure 
of the processes of attention than in any other way. 
The mechanism that erratic nervous impulses employ 
to escape into the motor centers, giving rise to the jerk- 
ings and twitchings of nervousness, probably exists 
in the brain centers. The proper treatment, rest, is in- 
dicated by this diagnosis of its cause. A nervous child 
must not be burdened with work either physical or 
mental. Good food, plenty of it, with abundance of 
fresh air and a sufficient amount of exercise to produce 
the best condition of circulation is about all that can 
be done for nervous children. Most cases of nervous- 
ness which are attributed to the schools arise from out- 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 397 

side conditions not connected directly with school 
work. Many children stay out late at night attending 
parties and other social functions, and the resulting 
nervous condition is charged to the schools. Fre- 
quently it is attendance upon the meetings of organ- 
izations of the students themselves in the school, 
rather than the regular school work, to which the 
nervous condition must be attributed. Occasionally 
there is a case of overwork in school to which the. 
nervousness must be charged, but these cases are 
rare compared with the number that ought to be 
charged up to something else. 

Nervousness and Schoolwork. — Other conditions 
than overwork cause the larger part of the nervous- 
ness that is properly chargeable to the school. Worry, 
which means an excessive amount of attention given 
in such a way as to be accompanied by a painful tone., 
so using up a large amount of nervous energy, is a 
frequent cause. The amount of pressure brought tc 
bear upon a class in order to induce the stupid and 
lazy ones to learn their lessons, is likely to induce 
worry and consequent nervousness in the pupils who 
do not need such pressure. The nervous children are 
frequently the brightest and most conscientious pupils 
in the class. Their very brightness and conscientious- 
ness may be the occasion of their nervousness. Scold- 
ing by the teacher, inducing worry, is likely to result 
in nervousness. Examinations, where great emphasis 
is laid upon them, may produce the same effect in 



398 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

some children. The nervous child must not be urged 
to undertake more work. Even though he be the 
brightest pupil in the class, and can learn his lessons 
the most easily, he must be prohibited from taking 
the full amount of work that other children carry. 

Position and Movement. 

Importance of Proper Position. — Posture has much 
to do with the attitude toward school work that a 
child manifests. A sprawling* posture indicates a 
sprawling habit of mind. One of the most certain 
methods of inculcating the proper habit of mind is to 
induce the proper attitude of body. Movement is 
much the same kind of phenomenon. The person who 
walks erect and promptly is likely to manifest an erect 
and prompt habit of mind. 

Kind of School Desks. — Proper position in school is 
likely to be much facilitated by the proper kind of 
seats. The seat should be as high from the floor as 
the length of the leg from the sole of the foot to the 
under side of the knee when the knee is bent. The 
back of the seat should be so shaped that it will con- 
form to the curves of the spine, so that the entire 
back of the seat may be in contact with the body. The 
desk in front should be high enough so that the bent 
elbows can be placed on it without raising them or 
stooping over. The edge of the desk in front should 
overhang the edge of the seat by about two inches. 
Unfortunately many children are occupying seats that 



FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 399 

are not adapted to their size. Adjustable seats may 
be obtained, but they are expensive and awkward to 
adjust. The best plan seems to be to seat about three- 
fourths of the room with non-adjustable seats and then 
buy adjustable seats of various sizes for the rest of 
the room. 

Contagious Diseases. — A child that is found to be 
affected with a contagious disease should be sent away 
from school. This rule is so nearly always complied 
with that there is little occasion for its discussion. A 
child that is sick does not wish to come to school ; but 
in the earliest stages of disease he may not know that 
he is sick. It is scarcely possible for the teacher to 
depend upon his own recognition of disease, and it is 
expecting too much from him to hold him responsible 
for discovering it. However, he can contribute very 
much to the immunity of the children by full and 
proper ventilation. Few diseases will be contracted 
in the open air, and there is little reason to be appre- 
hensive about contracting any if the room is well venti- 
lated. The floor and the walls should be kept as clean 
as possible, for it is in dust and dirt that the germs of 
disease chiefly accumulate. 

Synopsis 

1. Fatigue in school is nearly always nerve 
fatigue, and arises from an excessive expenditure of 
nervous energy. It is felt to be general over the body 
in consequence of the distribution of toxic fatigue- 



400 PRINCIPLES OP TEACHING 

products by the blood, when they are produced more 
rapidly than they can be eliminated. 

2. Good food, fresh air, sufficient exercise are the 
most important factors in preventing fatigue. 

3. A child who has learned to talk and who mani- 
fests a disposition to be left-handed should not be 
broken of his left-handedness. Such a procedure is 
likely to disturb the power to speak, and interrupt 
the development of other brain connections and mental 
processes. 

4. Nervousness may be induced by a variety of 
school conditions, chief of which is worry. The proper 
treatment of nervousness is rest. 

5. Posture and movement are indications of 
mental attitudes. One of the most important means 
of inducing the proper mental attitude toward school 
work is to engender the proper habit of posture and 
of movement. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

The Course of Study 

Jefferson and the Public School System. — Thomas 
Jefferson was a magnificent dreamer. He dreamed of 
a condition of society in which the rulers should be 
chosen by the people. He dreamed of a government in 
which the laws should be made by representatives 
whom the people should elect, and he believed that 
laws so made would be willingly and cheerfully 
obeyed. He dreamed of a country in which actual and 
complete justice should be maintained between man 
and man, and that the liberty guaranteed by trial by 
jury should be realized in fact as well as in theory. 
He dreamed of a condition in which all people should 
be educated, and by this he meant that all persons 
should learn to read and write, for that was the limit 
of general education, even to his magnificent concep- 
tion. 

Condition of Education Before the Public Schools. 
— It is difficult for us to realize the conception of edu- 
cation in the minds of people generally at the time 
that Thomas Jefferson lived. Reading and writing 
were rather unusual accomplishments over great por- 
tions of the country, and a large proportion of the 
soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War were 

401 



402 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

illiterate. Perhaps this explains the small number of 
personal accounts of revolutionary incidents that have 
come down to us in writing. 

Few persons believed it possible ever to attain the 
ideal of universal education, and there were many 
who believed it to be undesirable that all persons 
should be educated, even to the extent of learning how 
to read and write. They argued that it furnished 
power to the criminal to commit crime, which he 
would not have if he were uneducated. It would make 
of an ordinary criminal a much more dangerous one. 
Besides, they argued, education would unfit many per- 
sons for the kind of work they must do. We still hear 
echoes of such objections to education, but they are 
few, and no longer considered as a serious menace to 
educational institutions. 

Provision of the Ordinance of 1787. — But Thomas 
Jefferson, magnificent dreamer that he was, never 
dreamed of a condition of society in which people 
would be willing to tax themselves for the support of 
schools, open to all children of the district, without 
payment of tuition. That was beyond his power of 
conception. He believed that it would be necessary 
to create an endowment fund from the proceeds of 
which schools should be maintained for the purposes 
of universal education. So he was instrumental in 
having incorporated into the ordinance of 1787 a pro- 
vision setting aside the sixteenth section of every 
township in the Northwest Territory as a nucleus for 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 403 

this endowment fund. The states of Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were carved out of 
the Northwest Territory; and it is in these states that 
the development of the peculiarly American Institu- 
tion, the free public school, is best exemplified. The 
older states have been hampered by tradition more 
than have these, and the newer states have profited by 
their example. 

The Sixteenth Section. — This grant of the sixteenth 
section in every township was a magnificent endow- 
ment, but it has been largely squandered. As soon as 
the land became worth anything, and anybody wanted 
it, it was not difficult to induce legislatures to pass 
laws permitting its sale, and short-sighted officials 
proved poor trustees for the interests of posterity. 
In at least one township in Illinois, one old man suc- 
ceeded in defeating every proposition to sell the school 
section, and the township owns it today, land worth 
one hundred fifty dollars an acre, and the income 
from it supports every school in the township without 
local taxation. 

Curriculum of the Earliest Schools. — The earliest 
schools which may be considered the progenitors of 
the free public schools, taught especially reading and 
writing. The purpose was evident. Reading and 
writing were utilitarian subjects, a knowledge of 
which was very useful to every person. If a person 
could read, there was no necessity for him to get 
somebodv to read his letters for him, when he received 



404 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

any ; and he would not be at the expense of employing 
some one to write his letters when he wished to reply. 
Besides that,, he could read and understand books and 
newspapers. Reading and writing were felt to be 
very useful accomplishments. 

The Three R's. — But as soon as schools were estab- 
lished for the teaching of reading and writing, it was 
recognized that the ability to cipher, or to perform 
simple arithmetical operations, had also a great eco- 
nomic value. A man might find out by means of such 
knowledge when he was being cheated in his pur- 
chases, and would be able to calculate what he ought 
to receive when he sold his produce. So arithmetic 
became a common school subject. We have now 
reached that trinity of common school subjects 
known as the three R's complete. This point in the 
development of the curriculum of the common schools 
was reached somewhere in the period from 1812 to 
1820. In this period, the common schools, intended 
for the education of children who did not intend to 
prepare for going to college, taught but little else. 

Grammar, History, Geography. — But no sooner were 
the three R's adopted as common school subjects than 
other subjects began to be taught in the schools. 
Grammar was added and its introduction was justi- 
fied by various arguments. It was said that grammar 
would teach children to write and speak the language 
correctly. Thus people attempted to justify its intro- 
duction on economic grounds. 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 405 

The same thing was true of geography, which was 
introduced as a school subject for the alleged reason 
that it would be advantageous to any person who 
might wish to travel ; or to a merchant who might 
wish to import or export goods. Economic reasons 
for introducing history were not so clearly manifest, 
but its addition was justified upon the grounds that 
it would make the boys more intelligent voters ; that 
it would lead to the selection of better officers and rep- 
resentatives ; that it would make men more ready to 
enlist in the army in case a war should arise. Prob- 
ably it was this last consideration that led to the writ- 
ing of histories which concerned themselves princi- 
pally with the events of wars and battles and sieges. 
An exact enumeration of the pages in a very popu- 
lar school history published in 1868 shows that 48 
pages were devoted to colonial history, the events re- 
lated in which occurred before the United States was 
established ; 29 pages of full page maps, tables, review 
questions ; 91 pages devoted to the French and In- 
dian war, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican 
War and the Civil War; while only seventeen pages 
w r ere devoted to the history of the United States 
proper, exclusive of the wars. 

The Seven Common Branches. — We have now intro- 
duced into our curriculum the branches of reading, 
writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and history. 
These with spelling constituted the seven common 
branches of later vears. It is not meant that no other 



406 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

subjects were taught in the schools, even in those 
which were the direct ancestors of the free public 
schools ; but that these came to be recognized as ap- 
propriate subjects for every common school, whether 
other things were taught or not. Hence it came about 
that when the free, common, public school, supported 
by public taxation, became thoroughly organized and 
established somewhere in the years between 1837 and 
1855, the seven common branches were recognized as 
appropriate and necessary subjects of instruction, in 
those schools. 

Idea of Industrial Efficiency, or Practical Utility. — 
It will be observed that the introduction of each one 
of these subjects was justified by the immediate prac- 
tical benefit that was expected to accrue to the indi- 
vidual from its study. There was no attempt to 
justify it on the ground of mental discipline or moral 
development, or that they were things which gentle- 
men should know. The reasons assigned for their in- 
troduction were not often valid, but they were be- 
lieved to be justified on economic grounds. 

Introduction of Science. — When the curriculum of 
the seven common branches had become established, 
other subjects began to demand admission. There 
were at this time, and for years afterward, sporadic at- 
tempts to teach algebra, geometry, and occasionally 
some ambitious college student, teaching in the long 
vacation of his college, would organize a Latin class. 
Subsequently sprang up a demand for the teaching 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 407 

of natural science. This demand followed upon the 
great development of interest in science accompany- 
ing the publication of "Darwin's Origin of Species." 
Still another influence, which was perhaps equally im- 
portant in this country, was the inspiration arising 
from the teaching of zoology by Louis Agassiz at 
Harvard. 

Organisation of High Schools. — We have now a 
course of study for the common schools, composed 
of the seven common branches, and more or less in- 
definitely, the subjects of algebra, geometry, zoology, 
botany, physiology, natural philosophy, astronomy, 
and occasionally Latin and German. This point in 
the development of the curriculum was reached some- 
where in the early seventies. Then began the develop- 
ment of the free, public high school. There were few 
of these schools before 1868, but by 1880 the high 
school had taken on its definite form and had become 
well established. There were forty high schools in the 
United States in 1860, while in 1880 there .were eight 
hundred. The number in 1900 was 6,005. The sub- 
jects of algebra, geometry, Latin, zoology, botany, and 
others were assigned to the high schools, and the ele- 
mentary schools were told to confine their efforts to 
the teaching of the seven common branches. So the 
common school curriculum was made. 

Music and Drawing. — But it would not stay made. 
Music began to demand attention, and the schools 
were compelled to listen to the demand. Drawing 



408 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

was also seeking admission to the curriculum. It was 
attempted to justify the demand for the introduction 
of these subjects by economic reasons. Music made 
discipline easier. It had a soothing effect. Then the 
old demand for the study of science appeared under 
the guise of a demand for nature study. The children 
in the city were supposed to be suffering from a lack 
of opportunity to learn about nature. In the rural 
districts the same reasons for introducing nature study 
did not seem to exist, and it has never been so popu- 
lar in rural communities as in cities, although under 
the name of "Elements of Agriculture," with the eco- 
nomic justification, it has attained considerable promi- 
nence. Physical training and manual training, justi- 
fied on economic grounds, have been introduced into 
many schools. Manual training meant at first, work- 
ing in wood with tools; but lately, under the name of 
construction work, and with a variety of materials, it 
has entered all grades of the school. Algebra is again 
demanding a place in the elementary curriculum, and 
the same may be said of geometry and German. 

Three R's Neglected ? — The curriculum of the three 
R's, or even of the seven common branches, has been 
overshadowed by the introduction of newer subjects. 
Complaint is often made that such an overcrowded 
curriculum is disastrous to the health of the teachers, 
and even more to the nervous condition of the chil- 
dren. Our schools are said to be running to fads, and 
teachers are advised strongly by the critics of the 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 409 

schools to go back to the three R's and teach them 
well. Critics of the schools point to the fact that 
children do not read well, nor write well, nor spell 
well, nor cipher well. Hence the schools are said to 
be teaching the wrong things, or teaching the right 
things in the wrong way. 

Three R's Well Taught. — The advice to teach the 
three R's to the exclusion of other subjects of more 
recent introduction is not good unless it can be shown 
that the three R's are not so well taught as they were 
before the introduction of other subjects. There is 
less strain experienced in the teaching of the common 
branches than there was once, but all indications 
available point to the fact that the three R's were 
never before so well taught as they are today. In- 
dications of this are to be found in such comparisons 
as that of the Springfield examinations. A few years 
ago, a principal of Springfield, Massachusetts, un- 
earthed a set of examination papers in arithmetic and 
spelling that had been written by the pupils of the 
school just fifty years before. The same questions 
were given to the children of the eighth grade in the 
same school, and since then to children in many other 
cities, with the almost invariable result that the chil- 
dren of the present day wrote more accurately and in- 
telligently than did those of fifty years before. This 
is true, notwithstanding the fact that the children who 
wrote the papers fifty years before were older, that 
the school year was longer ; and the school reports 



410 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

show that special attention had been given in that 
year to the teaching of arithmetic and spelling. 

Why Better Taught Nozv Than Formerly. — The rea- 
son is obvious. In 1846 the children below this grade 
had read as a requirement in school only eleven books. 
Now the children in the eighth grade have read from 
fifty to sixty or seventy books. In arithmetic, prac- 
tical work in measurement results in the greater de- 
velopment of the number concept; so that the ideas 
which are needed for the writing of an examination 
paper are acquired without the same degree of stress 
being laid upon the teaching of the subject itself that 
was employed before. 

Idea of Industrial Efficiency. — Two different ideals 
have been manifested in the development of the cur- 
riculum of the schools. One of these is the idea of in- 
dustrial efficiency, which leads to the teaching of those 
subjects that will be of immediate utility to the chil- 
dren who learn them. Subjects are introduced into 
school work because of the benefit that a knowledge of 
the subjects will confer. This is the idea which un- 
derlies the selection of the subjects of the common 
school curriculum, and the common schools are 
founded upon the idea of industrial efficiency. In 
schools established upon this principle, the acquisition 
of knowledge is the end of school education, and the 
teaching is likely to be determined by it. 

Leisure Class Idea. — The other principle is that of 
the leisure class idea. This may be most brieflv 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 411 

stated by saying that schools founded upon this prin- 
ciple are established particularly to teach the things 
that a gentleman ought to know. By gentleman, is 
here meant some one who is not compelled by the cir- 
cumstances of the case to earn the money that he 
must live upon. He can spend his time in occupa- 
tions that are not directly economic in their product. 
There is little thought of the economic value of sub- 
jects of instruction in schools that are founded upon 
this idea. Mental discipline is likely to be the ex- 
pressed aim of instruction in such schools. Subjects 
that are incapable of being put to any practical use 
are likely to be preferred. It is the mark of a leisure 
class education that persons so taught shall have a 
large amount of knowledge which is incapable of eco- 
nomic application. Hence it is that the classics, Latin, 
Greek, languages generally, are favorite subjects in 
leisure class schools. Drawing as an art is a leisure 
class subject; drawing as applied to mechanics, archi- 
tecture, engineering, is a subject for industrial ef- 
ficiency. 

Colleges Generally Leisure Class Institutions. — The 
early colleges were altogether based upon the leisure 
class idea. Higher education in general is still largely 
an expression of it. As colleges have affected the 
common schools, the leisure class idea has been mani- 
fested in their course of study. As the common school 
idea has reached upward into the colleges, their courses 
of study have been modified in the direction of indus- 



412 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

trial efficiency. At present, the battle ground of these 
two ideas is best exemplified in the high schools. The 
high schools have grown up out of the common 
schools, supplanting the leisure class academies and 
preparatory schools. The colleges have recently influ- 
enced the high schools very much, and have embodied 
in them the leisure class subjects. The opinion is 
often expressed that education goes from the top 
downward, meaning that it filters from the colleges 
into the common schools. The statement is not true, 
unless by education is meant leisure class education. 
Industrially efficient education almost invariably pro- 
ceeds in the other direction. 

Fads in School. — The newer subjects that are in- 
troduced into the curriculum are sometimes called 
fads. The name is never applied in a complimentary 
way, but is rather a term of obloquy. A fad is some- 
thing that is new, rather unusual, not adopted in all 
the schools, and pursued with a considerable degree of 
enthusiasm. On the one hand it is claimed that the 
introduction of new subjects, or fads, into the schools 
has come about in consequence of the imperative de- 
mand for the enrichment of the course of study; on 
the other hand it is claimed that such introduction has led 
to an overloaded and indigestible course of study, de- 
structive to efficient teaching or learning, and in- 
jurious to the health and mental effectiveness of the 
pupils. What is the explanation of this discrepancy 
of opinion? 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 413 

The Ideal Toward Which the Public School Tends. 
■ — When we look at it m the right way, we shall see 
that we have been groping blindly toward a sublime 
ideal, as much beyond that of Thomas Jefferson as 
his was superior to that of most of the people of his 
day. We are gradually coming to a realization in 
practice of that which has been known in theory a 
long time. We are gradually coming to teach the 
child instead of the subject. Our teaching is coming to 
be based upon child-psychology, rather than upon 
adult logic. Adult logic has previously laid out 
our courses of study and said how they should 
be taught. Adult logic said that the letter is 
simpler than the word, and that we should pro- 
ceed from the simple to the complex. Therefore, 
adult logic said, we should teach the letters before the 
words. But we now know that the word which means 
something to the child is simpler for him than the let- 
ter which means nothing", and our teaching of reading 
has increased in effectiveness more than five hundred 
per cent since we recognized this fact. 

The same kind of changes will occur and are now in 
progress in the teaching of arithmetic and of language 
work. Geography has already undergone a trans- 
formation and is no longer exclusively the locative 
geography of former days. Physical Geography, once 
considered a high school subject, is made the basis of 
the work in geography in the elementary grades. His- 
tory is no longer confined to the course of events in 



414 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

the United States, but our children learn something 
about English history, Roman history, Greek history, 
and Greek, Roman and Norse mythology. 

Nature of the Public School Ideal — The ideal toward 
which we have been groping is not the idea of in- 
dustrial efficiency, nor the leisure class idea, but some- 
thing that is more comprehensive than either. The 
aim is not knowledge that can be applied, nor the fash- 
ionable knowledge of the leisure class, nor is it to be 
determined by the idea of mental discipline. The aim 
of mental discipline has always been a subterfuge at 
best. There is just as much mental discipline possi- 
ble of attainment in acquiring knowledge that can be 
applied to immediate and practical ends, as in learning 
things that have no possible utilitarian application. 

School as a Preparation for Living. — School is a 
preparation for life. There is no possible way of learn- 
ing to live except by living, as there is no way of 
learning to skate except by skating. So in order that 
school may be a preparation for life, it must be life 
itself. School is not merely a preparation for life, it 
is life. The child is to learn to live in the community, 
and the school must represent the best ideals of com- 
munity life in which it is placed. This means that 
the three R's shall be taught, and shall be well taught, 
too. The three R's constitute an essential element in 
the life of every community in the United States. It 
means that in an industrial community the principle 
of industrial efficiencv shall determine the course of 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 41 

study. Iii an agricultural community the subjects 
that maintain a relation to agriculture shall constitute 
the curriculum. In a leisure class community, the 
leisure class subjects shall prevail. 

This is not the principle of electives in school, but 
it is something better. The school will represent the 
community ideal, and as such it will appeal to every 
child in the community, by showing forth the relation 
of school work to the life that he must live. 

What Subjects May Properly be Introduced into 
School. — Anything that constitutes an element in com- 
munity life, by that very fact justifies its demand for 
introduction into the grades of the school. It may or 
may not be expedient to introduce it into the program, 
but if conditions will permit, there can be no valid rea- 
son for refusing to consider it a fit subject for instruc- 
tion in school. 

Such conditions afford abundant opportunity for 
the introduction of such subjects, as manual training 
and domestic science, as well as for the elements of 
agriculture and of physical training. Manual train- 
ing, or construction work, may be just as truly a 
leisure class subject as a subject for industrial effi- 
ciency. Manual training that runs to raffia work and 
pyrography is far removed from the idea of industrial 
efficiency. 

Domestic Science. — Cooking and housekeeping work 
constitute a most essential element in the life of every 
community, and domestic science will in all reasonable 



416 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

probability constitute an ever-increasing element in 
the school curriculum. The objections to the intro- 
duction of domestic science are not strong. Girls can 
be taught housekeeping at home, is the common objec- 
tion. Very true, but so they can be taught to read 
and write and cipher at home; nevertheless it has been 
found not only economical, but altogether advantage- 
ous to teach the reading and writing and ciphering at 
schools, where skilled teachers with proper appliances 
can economize the efforts of the children. 

Community Life the One School Subject. — Hence it 
is, too, that, notwithstanding the ever-increasing num- 
ber of subjects that make up the curriculum, the 
courses of study are not overcrowded. There is but 
one real subject of instruction, and that is community 
life. Any subject that does not have a direct relation 
to it is of right debarred from the course; and the re- 
lation of the child to the community in which he lives 
determines the course to be pursued in his education. 

The Aim Determines the Subjects of Instruction, — 
The doctrine of formal discipline would assert that it 
•makes no difference what subject is studied, provided 
it is sufficiently difficult and demands considerable 
energy. It does make a difference what subjects of in- 
struction are presented to the child, for the nature of 
the child is inevitably determined by the things which 
he contemplates. "The chameleon of human thought 
takes its color, day by day, from the books over which 
it crawls." The character of the child is determined 



THE COURSE OF STUDY 417 

by the things he thinks. So we ought to cause him to 
study the things which represent the best ideals of the 
community, for by so doing we are preparing him to 
live in that community. 

Course of Study Made by the Teacher. — It is com- 
monly assumed that the course of study is made by 
the superintendent, or board of education, or some 
other constituted authority. The fact is that the real 
course of study can be made only by the teacher. Dif- 
ferent teachers, using the same printed course of 
study, and intending to follow the same system of in- 
struction, by the different emphasis which they give 
to the same subjects will teach totally different courses 
and produce correspondingly different effects upon the 
minds and characters of the children. It is the teach- 
er, who in the last analysis, is responsible for the 
course of study. Hence arises the necessity for the 
teacher's having a proper ideal of what constitutes edu- 
cation, and how the subjects of instruction may be re- 
lated to the life of the community. 

Synopsis 

1. There are two ideas involved in the develop- 
ment of the common school curriculum ; the idea of in- 
dustrial efficiency and the leisure class idea. 

2. The elementary schools represent especially 
the idea of industrial efficiency and the colleges rep- 
resent more nearly the leisure class idea. The battle 
proline! at present is the higfh school. 



418 • PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

3 A satisfactory conception of the public school 
curriculum will include an idea more comprehensive 
than both of these. The course of study must be based 
upon the idea that the business of the school is to 
teach the pupil to live in the community. Community 
life is the one idea that the course of study ought to 
embody. 

4. Anything that constitutes an element in the 
life of the community may, if conditions are favorable, 
have its introduction into the schools justified by this 
principle. 

5. It is the teacher, rather than the board of edu- 
cation or the superintendent, who really makes the 
course of study. 



INDEX 



Abstraction, 210, 231, 324. 

Abstract notion, 321. 

Acts of judgment, 73. 

Adenoids, 377. 

Adjustment, 45. 

Adolescent play, 139. 

Advantages of Psychology, 28. 

Agassiz, 407. 

Agriculture, 59, 408. 

Aim of Education, 22, 66. 

Algebra, 67. 

Ambidexterity, 395. 

Americanization, 90. 

Analysis, 210, 232, 324. 

Antagonism between school 

and life, 72, 81. 
Apparatus, projection, 216. 
Apperception, 33, 180. 
Apperceiving mass, 182, 189. 
Applied psychology, 29. 
Arabic notation, 17. 
Archie, 375. 
Argon, 327. 
Argument for education. 48. 

For common school, 81. 

For dramatization, 171. 
Arithmetic, 15, 35, 68. 
Arthropods, 335. 
Artist, 30. 

Artistic accomplishment, 156. 
Assessed value, 53. 
Assignment, 247. 
Association, 190. 

Laws of, 191. 
Astigmatism, 365. 
Attention, 37. 
Atwoods machine. 35. 
Austro-Hungary, 88. 



Babylon, 62. 

Backing the book, 236. 



Bad, imitation of, 170. 
Base, of numbers, 17. 
Behavior, 34, 273, 276, 294. 
Biogenetic law, 100. 
Birthdays, 318. 
Blind spot, 361. 
Born teacher, 10. 

Musician, 11. 
Bow and arrow, 109. 
Brain cells, 43. 
Brain centers, 74. 

Chambered nautilus, 64. 
Characteristics of interest, 146. 
Cheating, 293. 
Chicago Dept. of Child Study, 

353. 
Child nature, 25. 

Psychology. 31. 

Study monthly, 375. 
Chinese invention, 163. 

Schools, 236. 
Chronoscope, 395. 
Classification, 338. 
Color blindness, 372. 
College graduate, 54. 
Colonization, 88. 
Committing to memorv, 76, 

202. 
Committee on school propertv, 

284. 
Comparison, 328, 332. 
Comprehension of the notion, 

337. 
Common noun, 321. 

Branches, 405. 

Schools, 83. 
Community life, 78, 414. 
Compulsory education, 121. 
Competitive play, 138. 
Concert recitation, 251. 



419 



420 



INDEX 



Concept, 321. 

Consciousness is motor, 225. 

Construction work, 222. 

Contiguity, 191. 

Contagious diseases, 399. 

Content of common noun, 329. 

Co-operative play, 137. 

Correlation, 211. 

Conversion, 183. 

Corollaries, 41. 

Cost of living, 52. 

Course of study, 42, 401. 

Courage, 293. 

Critic, 328. 

Cramming, 268. 

Creation, 163. 

Criminal instincts, 32, 86. 

Cultivation of the will, 144. 

Culture, 75. 

Epochs, 100, 113. 
Cultivation of plants, 110. 
Curiosity, 152. 
Curriculum, 403. 

Darwin, 407. 
Defective vision, 360. 

Hearing, 374. 
Definition of play, 124. 

Of education, 46. 

Logical, 333. 
Degeneration, 292. 
Denominate numbers, 59. 
Departmental teaching, 298. 
Deportment mark, 303. 
Desks, 398. 

Despotic government, 84. 
Development, 44. 

Recitation, 259. 

Retarded, 26. 

Stages, 32, 100. 
Devices, 34. 

For study, 205. 
Division of the school fund, 95. 
Diplomas, 310. 
Discipline, formal, 189. 

School, 271. 
Disease, 399. 
Discrimination, 326. 
Domestic science, 415, 



Double taxation, 97. 
Dramatization, 171. 
Drawing, 76, 221. 
Drill, 246. 

Ear-minded persons, 259. 
Earning power, 52, 57. 
Education, 40, 46. 
Elements of agriculture, 60, 

408. . 
Of the recitation, 237. 
Electives, 415. 
Emulation, 316. 
Endowment fund, 403. 
English political institutions, 

88. 
System of play, 282. 
Environment, 40. 
Equilibrium plays, 132. 
Ergograph, 387. 
Esthesiometer, 385. 
Ethical atmosphere, 277, 290, 

295. 
Examinations, 266. 
Exercise, 385. 
Explain, 33, 207. 
Expression, 221. 
Extension of the notion, 337. 
Eye minded persons, 259, 

Fads, 412. 

Failure in discipline, 272. 
Faint sensations, 322. 
Falling bodies, 35. 
Farmers' institute, 50. 
Fatigue, 382. 

Toxin, 383. 

Of a school day, 388.' 
Fears, 25. 
Feeling play, 136. 
Feeling and fatigue, 389. 
Fighting play, 137. 
First hand knowledge, 208. 
Focus of consciousness, 181. 
Forgetting, 14, 244. 
Formal discipline, 189, 414. 
Fraction, 15. 

Gambling. 294. 

General abstract notion, 321. 



INDEX 



421 



German system of play, 282. 

Geyser, 331. 

Godless schools. 92. 

Goody-good, 78. 

Grammar, 18. 

Grammatical distinction, 19. 

Grasshopper, 323. 

Great Stone Face, 177. 

Groos, 126. 

Groos's theory of plav, 127. 

Growth, 100, 344. 

Tables of, 346. 347. 

Periods of, 349. 

Proportional, 351. 

And school standing, 353. 

Habit, 8, 33, 144, 305. 
Hearing, 374. 

Test, 378. 

Play, 134. 
Heredity, 40. 
Herbart, 180. 
High schools. 407. 
History. 20. 
Homogeneity, 88, 91. 
Hypermetropia, 364. 

Ideas, 180. 185. 
Illiteracy. 85. 
Imagination play, 136. 
Imitation, 161. 
Imitative actions, 166. 

Play, 134. 

Teaching, 169. 
Immigration, 89. 
Impulse, peripherally initiated, 

322. 
Incentives, 305. 

Industrial efficiency. 57, 87, 406. 
Infactions of discipline, 278. 
Infant play, 137. 
Instincts, 25. 
Institutions, 42. 
Institutional life, 79. 
Instruction, 240. 
Interest, 33, 142, 301. 

Denned, 147. 

People. 142. 
Interests, 148. 



Intelligence, 84. 
Intellectual feeling, 307. 
Investment, 54. 
Invention, 162. 
Isolation of offender, 298. 

John Worthy school, 354. 
Judgment, 19. 

Key, 68. 
King John, 62. 
Knowledge, 14, 26. 

Aim, 67. 

Professional, 9, 14, 15, 25. 

Latin, 67. 

Laws of association, 191. 

Lazarus, 127. 

Learning, 37. 

By heart, 202. 
Lecture recitation, 258. 
Left handedness, 390. 
Leisure class. 57, 75, 410. 
Lewis H. Morgan, 106. 
Limits, 61. 
Lighting, 370. 

Localization of function, 75. 
Logical definition, 232, 333. 
Lord Rayliegh, 327. 
Love plav. 140. 
Lying, 292. 

Marking system, 310. 
Marriage, 95. 
Man, primitive, 114, 128. 
Maximum height and weight. 

358. 
Mayflower, 20. 
Mental processes, 36. 

Discipline, 70. 198. 

Play, 136. 

Location, 221. 
Measurement of fatigue, 385. 
Memorv, 70. 
Method, 12. 

Of thought, 36. 
Monitor, 331. 
Moral aim, 76. 
Morality, 77. 



422 



INDEX 



Movement play, 132. 
Musician, born, 11. 
Muscle play, 132. 
Myopia, 363. 

Nature study, 408. 

Nervous arc, 44. 

Nervous prostration, 396. 

Nervousness, 395. 

Neurons, 43. 

Nile, 62. 

Northwest territory, 402. 

Notion, general abstract, 321. 

Singular concrete, 330. 
Noun, common, 321. 

Proper, 321. 

Objections to schools, 48, 92. 
Ontogenetic series, 105. 
Origin of language, 107. 
Origin of Species, 407. 
Oral reading, 222. 
Originality, 166. 
Ordinance of 1787, 402. 
Overwork, 397. 
Overflow, nervous, 326. 

Parochial schools, 83. 

Pauperism, 87. 

Pedagogical content, 24. 

Periods of racial development, 
106. 
of childhood, 117. 
of growth, 348. 

Peripherally initiated impulse, 
322. 

Phonetic alphabet, 116. 

Picture study, 213. 

Pilgrims, 20, 88. 

Place, value, 17. 

Play, 25, 33, 123. 
And work, 124. 

Plays of animals, 126. 

Playground, 282. 

Plasticity of nervous organi- 
zation, 116. 

Pony, 67, 293. 

Poor spelling, 360. 

Posture, 398. 



Powers of the mind, 71. 
Professional knowledge, 19. 

Training, 13. 

Work, 30. 
Practical subjects, 72. 
Predicate, 18. 

Pray's astigmatic letters, 368. 
Preparation for life, 414. 
Precocity, 355. 
Primary teaching, 169. 
Primitive man, 114, 128. 
Prison statistics, 85. 
Prize fighting, 139. 
Prizes, 309. 
Private schools, 82. 
Program, 306. 
Projection apparatus, 216, 
Prolongation of infancy, 121. 
Promotions, 310, 313. 
Proportional growth, 351. 
Physician, preparation, 12. 
Phylogenetic series, 102. 
Public opinion, 296. 
Punishment, 238, 297. 
Pupil government, 317. 
Puzzles, 247. 
Psychology, 28, 

Of expression, 224. 
Pyramids, 62. 

Quantity of life, 62. 
Questioning, 229. 
Question and answer, 261. 

Race inheritance, 64, 80. 
Ragweed, 211. 
Reaction time, 385. 
Reading, definition, 194. 
Reading or study, 200. 
Recidivists, 86. 
Recitation, 235, 251. 

Topical, 264. 
Reflex action, 165. 
Reflex imitation, 164. 
Relation, 190. 
Relation of growth to school 

standing, 353. 
Relativity, 190. 
Religion, 91, 93. 



INDEX 



423 



Remembering, 37, 201, 
Reporting, 241. 
Resemblance, 193, 329. 
Retarded development, 26. 
Review, 243. 
Roman notation, 17. 
Rules in arithmetic, 69. 
Runnymede, 62. 

Salary, 56. 

Schaeffer, Supt, 64. 

'School as community ideal, 42. 

Discipline, 271. 

Standing and growth, 353. 
Self activity, 123. 
Sense plays, 129. 
Sensation, 321. 

Seven common branches, 405. 
Sight play, 133. 

Simultaneous association, 185. 
Sixteenth section, 403. 
Slavery, 84. 

Snellen's test cards, 365. 
Social efficiency, 23. 
Spencer, 79. 

Theory of play, 125. 
Spontaneous attention, 200. 
Special days, 318. 
Spelling, poor, 360. 
Speech center, 391. 
Springfield examinations, 409. 
Stealing, 292. 
Stanley Hall, theory of play, 

127. 
Stages of development, 32. 
Study, 197. 
Stupidity, 375. 
'Subject of sentence, 18. 
Suggestion, 276. 

Tables of growth, 346, 347. 

Of differences, 326, 335. 

Of resemblances, 329, 335. 
Taxonomic series, 100. 
Taste plays, 131. 
Tardiness, 317. 
Teacher, born, 10. 
Teaching, 218. 



Technical schools, '57. 

Temperature plays, 130. 

Team plays, 139. 

Telling. 218. 

Testing, 237. 

Text books, 240. 

Text book recitation, 254. 

Test for nervousness, 395. 

Thinking, 32, 206. 

Threshold of consciousness, 

180. 
Theory of discipline, 274. 

Of play, 123. 

Spencer's, 125. 

Hall's, 127. 

Groos', 126. 
Three R's, 404. 
Touch plays, 130. 
Thomas Jefferson, 400. 
Training, professional, 13. 
Transfer of interest, 302, 305. 
Turkish cadi, letter, 152. 

Understand, 33. 
Unconscious imitation, 176. 
Uneducated, successful man, 

58. 
Unity, class, 227. 

Of the school, 285, 297. 

Value of the teacher, 56. 

Ventilation, 399. 

Von Baer, 100. 

Vision, 360. 

Vital capacity, 384. 

Watch test, 378. 

Whisper test, 380. 

Will, 143. 

Will play, 136. 

Will people, 143. 

Window shades, 371. 

Weight of children, 347. 

Work, 124. 

Worry, 396. 

Worth of a man, 51. 

Ziller, 106. 









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